MA
karen Krolak (she/her - Care-wren Crow-lock) is a free range collaborator who lives with a rare chronic health condition on the unceded lands of the Massachusett and Pawtucket near Boston, MA. She is the co-founder/co-Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse and the creator of the Dictionary of Negative Space. Her embodied explorations weave in elements of text, textiles, choreography or storytelling to spark dialogues that reverberate between communities and have been presented abroad in Italy, the UK, Canada, India, and S. Korea, as well as nationally and throughout New England. For over twenty years, she has collaborated with Nicole Harris on a diverse range of dance and other media projects. In addition, Krolak frequently collaborates with Jason Ries, Jeremy Wechsler, Kwaq7aj', Ralph Farris, Eric John Meyer, Anne Howarth, Kim Holman, Cassandre Charles, Scott McPheeters, and Barry Duncan. karen is a co-producer of NACHMO Boston, co-director of aMaSSiT at The Dance Complex, co-curator of the Malden Dance Mile, a member of the 2022 Dancing Disability cohort at UCLA, a Humanities Advisor to the Black Arts Sanctuary, a Board member for The Flavor Continues and the Boston Dance Alliance, and a Sustainability Advisor for Subcircle.
Much of her recent work has centered around the theme of finding physical poetry in imperfect bodies and around mourning. Krolak’s quirky knitting pattern/personal essay/instruction based art piece, Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Room Blues, won the First Annual Feels Blind Literary DIY Prize and has been presented in at the Institute for Conceptual Studies online and at the CICA Museum in Gimpo, Korea. Her essay, Unexpected Artist in Residency in a Hospital, and her DIY hospital robe pattern were recently published in Piney Woods Atlas’s Midwest edition.
In 2022, Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN presented her first solo exhibition, addenda: an exercise course from the Dictionary of Negative Space and her stop motion film collaboration with Nicole Harris, Pane #432.1, was exhibited at the City of Reno's Canyon Flats Video Wall, a new public art space. She has been a dramaturg for Kim Holman's Contradictions + Causal Self Loathing and audio described the streaming recording of Holman's Common Circus. Krolak is part of Monkeyhouse's 2023 Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice cohort.
Additional Content:
Online iteration of my ongoing project that holds space for the unnamed ideas in the English language related to grief, death, and trauma
Monkeyhouse is an award winning nonprofit that connects communities through choreography. We have worked with over 115 choreographers/dance organizations through our COVID Collaborations sparked by donations from the Miner Nagy Family Fund
Audio illustration of entry number [24] from the Dictionary of Negative Space. Performed and recorded at the Podcast Garage.
Mementos Podcast Episode 1 A T-shirt Hug from Dad
An interview with me from a podcast that has been picked up by PRX and played all around the world
Episode 358 Person Place Thing
An interview with me by Emmy award winning writer Randy Cohen
Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Waiting Room Blues
My quirky knitting pattern/personal essay/instruction based art piece, Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Room Blues, winner of the First Annual Feels Blind Literary DIY Prize.
Hi Phi Nation S5, Episode 7: Memorials
Podcast looks at why abstract rather than representational memorials resonate better with people in recent years. Guest voices include Karen Krolak, James Young, and Michael Hays.
Interview with Kara Q. Smith for the University of Nevada Reno blog about the Panes series of work.
Title graphic reads: ‘Winding Up. karen Krolak. [Escape from the rabbit hole of coworkers and unfinished projects. Backup and start this thought all over.]?’
Institution/Business Type:
Artist / Creative (Individual)
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
1993
Institution/Business Type:
Artist / Creative (Individual)
Legal Status:
Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship
Year Founded:
1993
Primary Discipline:
Multi-DisciplinaryAdditional Disciplines:
Activities and Services:
Populations Engaged:
Geographic Reach:
Accessibility of Services:
Professional Associations:
Professional Associations:
Awards:
Education:
Special Designations:
Teaching Settings:
Ages Served:
Subject Areas:
Teaching Settings:
Ages Served:
Subject Areas:
NEST Eligible Artist
Technical Requirements:
Accessibility Accommodations Needed:
Please contact me for my access rider
Fee Range:
$250 - $10,000State of Residence:
MassachusettsMinimum Number of Performers:
1Maximum Number of Performers:
6