Her works combine writing, video installation, performance, artists' books, drawing, photography, collaboration, and activism.
[1] Her writing, lectures, videos, and artwork deal with the relationship between art and politics, visual culture, queer theory, terrorism, prisons and torture.
[6] Mary Patten was a member of DAGMAR (Dykes and Gay Men Against Racism and Repression) that began in 1984 and evolved to become CFAR (Chicago for AIDS Rights), an activist group addressing HIV/AIDS.
[17] In addition to her work in the LGBTQ communities, Patten has created and curated art for the feminist movement, such as the 2014 exhibit "Bad Girls: Video Program: She Laughed When She Saw It" at the New Museum in New York City.
[18] Other projects of Patten include the Madame Binh Graphics Collective, Feel Tank Chicago, WhiteWalls, RIOT GRRRANDMAS!!