Mary Calarco is a Guelph based visual artist whose artistic practice explores fragility, memory, and materiality through fabric and plant-based dyes. Working primarily with reclaimed cotton, she incorporate sewing, painting, printing and dyeing techniques, deconstructing and rebuilding the fabric into abstract artworks to reveal strength and vulnerability. Raw edges and visible seams open the door to conversations about impermanence, while her recurring polka dot motif offers a disarming way to explore concepts such as medical imaging, absence, conformity and imperfection.

A graduate of the Interdisciplinary Studies program at OCAD University (1995), Calarco built a successful career in arts administration and event management before establishing her full-time studio practice. She works out of her studio at Boarding House Arts in Guelph, Ontario.