About

Patricia Kalidonis (b. 1986) is a Seattle-based mixed media artist whose work focuses on disabled embodiment, social connectedness, memory, solitude and isolation. Her recent artwork explores her kinship with Disability culture, through the use of vintage photography, contemporary accessibility practices, and Disability Justice frameworks. Among many other things, her art is grown out of her experiences as an autistic, neurodivergent woman living with chronic pain.

Patricia’s interest in disability culture and identity is rooted in her time navigating disability through different stages of her life in a variety of environments. After dropping out of high school at 16 - struggling significantly throughout childhood as a yet-to-be-diagnosed autistic girl - Patricia worked in retail customer service and administrative jobs for 14 years. She earned her GED at age 20, and took a brief break from retail to take foundational art courses at OCAD University in Toronto in 2008/09. She was able to complete her undergrad degree in her early thirties; she earned her BFA in Art Practices from Portland State University in 2019 with a minor in Art History. Patricia completed her MFA in Studio Art from Temple University in 2023. She has also taken Graduate level courses in Disability Studies at Temple University and CUNY School for Professional Studies.

As an arts administrator, Patricia has worked within academia, small-scale art galleries, and grassroots artist collectives, including serving as Gallery Director of Littman + White Galleries at Portland State University from 2017 to 2019. Most recently, She was the founder and co-director of Socially Distant Art, a collaborative artist residency program focused on creative approaches to accessibility in the arts.

As a passionate urbanist, much of Patricia’s art practice is inspired by urban environments and the social dynamics within those cities. She has an amateur interest in urban planning, architecture, urban place-making and public art (especially community murals). She lives car-free, and will happily take a bus, train, subway, ferry, streetcar or light rail anywhere her feet (and cane) can't take her. She grew up mostly in California, primarily in the Bay Area. Since then, she has called many cities home, including Toronto, Albuquerque, Chicago, Portland (OR), New York City, and Philadelphia; she feels somewhat from all of these places, and from no specific place at all.