Professor Cat Mazza Debuts New Solo Art Exhibition Network
Exhibition Weaves Entangled Histories of Textile, Labor, Feminist Movements
Artist and educator Cat Mazza has her first solo exhibition in Boston, Network, at Northeastern University’s Gallery 360. Mazza first began teaching at UMass Boston in 2007 and is currently a professor of Digital Media in the Art and Art History Department.
Mazza’s work seamlessly blends the ancient practice of textile art with modern technology. Network reflects her ongoing exploration of social change, labor practices, and mental health. “The title itself brings in many elements of the curatorial concept - there are so many allusions to a web of connections across time and space, through technology and community,” said Amy Halliday, the curator of Network.
Labor Sister Sampler, an anchor piece in the exhibition, weaves together the entangled histories of textile manufacturing, labor organizing, and feminist movements, highlighting the role of cross-generational skill sharing and solidarity. From stitching circles in preindustrial times to the global exchange of visual styles and influences, Mazza’s work emphasizes both historical and contemporary networks.
Many of the works move between analog and digital techniques. Some of the pieces were created with knitPro, a freeware app developed by Mazza and programmer Eric St. Onge in 2004, which turns digital images into stitchable patterns. Others include animated video works, made with the software Knitoscope, which turns digital video (much of it digitally drawn, pixel by pixel, by Mazza) into knitted animations. One of the videos, By & By: With Psychedelic Features, was funded by the UMass Boston Dean's Research Grant and is debuting in Network.
Cat Mazza and Ross Goldstein. Animation still from By & By: With Psychedelic Features, 2024. Hand-stitched synthetic yarn, 1920x1080 animation, Knitoscope. 5 minutes, 34 seconds. Courtesy of the artist.
When discussing the impact of her work, Mazza said, “The materials often connect craft and technology in some way, and then the ideas behind the work are informed by historical research.”
One such piece, the largest in the exhibition, is Labor Sister Sampler 1824-1999. It’s a 10-foot-wide hand-and-machine-knitted map of the United States that documents a timeline of American labor history. The piece was created in 2015 for the Hillary Clinton campaign in the lead up to the 2016 election. Each state contains a unique pattern, or “sample,” that signifies key moments in labor history such as suffrage and unionizing, and shows the evolution of labor struggles in the U.S. and the role of women within them.
Photo by Mel Taing
Cat Mazza. Labor Sister Sampler 1824-1999, 2016. Hand and machine-knit cotton, Knitpro. Created as part of the Artists for Hillary Initiative. Courtesy of the artist.
“The newer work has more to do with mental health conditions and these aspirational therapeutic communities that I’ve been tracing through time,” Mazza explained. The exhibition dives into the theme of mental health with Knit/Transmit, a series of knitted balaclavas inspired by a WWII combat garment. The work references the shift in psychiatry that took place at England’s Northfield Hospital during the war. The “Northfield Experiments” worked on societal reintegration of traumatized soldiers, alongside increasing resistance to oppressive institutional models. The four figures represented on the balaclavas — Franco Basaglia, RD Laing, Michel Foucault, and Kay Redfield Jamieson — all made critical contributions to psychiatric care and understanding during the 1960s and 1970s.
Photo by Mel Taing
Cat Mazza. Knit/Transmit, 2024. Hand and machine-knit cotton, Knitoscope. Courtesy of the artist.
In addition to Network, Mazza has a satellite installation in Northeastern’s university community space Northeastern Crossing titled Pandemic Views. The idea for this project stemmed from a course Mazza taught at UMass Boston during the early COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders of 2020 when classes were abruptly moved online.
“We were all of a sudden in lockdown, and so we cross-stitched our views from our windows in the space in which we were living and working.” Mazza invited students and later other participants to make and share their views. The installation brings many of these works together for the first time and includes contributions from Massachusetts to Mexico City, including some UMass alumni.
Photo by Mel Taing
Cat Mazza. Pandemic Views, 2020. Cross-stitched cotton. Courtesy of the artist.
Amy Halliday emphasized the conceptual rigor and dedication behind Mazza’s work, saying, “Sometimes we have a bit of a mysterious view of artists, like they just make these amazing things, but we don't stop and think about the hundreds of hours, muscle memory, innovation, research, and technical mastery that's been galvanized over time that goes into the work.”
When discussing how teaching informs her work, Mazza said, “I'm able to teach both textiles and technology, and my work combines both of those mediums.”
“Exploring ideas and then making artwork that's informed by research and history is something I bring into the classroom,” she added. “I like to find out about what's important to [my students], what's inspiring them, and to encourage them to make their work about their ideas.”
Mazza’s exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own connections to textiles and tactile experiences by exploring themes of labor, technology, craft, and community. Halliday sums it up: “It's about time that an artist of Cat’s stature and accomplishment has a show of this scale. Her work is incredible on so many levels, and it touches so many people.”
Network is free to see at Northeastern, and will be available from November 14, 2024 – April 12, 2025, Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Located at Gallery 360, where the Curry Student Center meets Ell Hall, 346 Huntington Ave., Boston. Additional free public programming includes a workshop, panel discussion, and reception. See https://camd.northeastern.edu/featured-work/cat-mazza-network/ for more details.