Patricia Kalidonis

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 complex, widespread chronic pain.

Patricia was raised in California - mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. 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 my GED at age 20, and completed foundational art courses at OCAD University (Toronto, ON) in 2008/09. In her early thirties, she earned her BFA in Art Practices from Portland State University (2019) with a minor in Art History and completed an MFA in Studio Art from Temple University in 2023. She has also completed 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 green spaces and public art (especially community murals). She will happily take a bus, train, subway, ferry, or streetcar anywhere her feet can't take her.  Patricia 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.