hip – hip!

getting to know the graduates

Graduating Student: Jess Pope (S 21)

My process/thesis paper reflects the methodology of how I create and think about my artistic practice. My work challenges the value system under a patriarchal society, shining a light, through art and performance, on the injustices placed upon marginalized communities.

Who, or what is your work in conversation with?

My work is in conversation with feminist and queer themes and theory, with an underlying dose of Christianity and religion. I am also fascinated by trauma on a cellular level and its connection to ancestral lineage. My work is about storytelling through the medium of body/self in collaboration with the moving image and video. Body art and performance art surface our embeddedness in the determinations of meaning and value.

Some of the artists that I gain inspiration from are Ana Mendieta, Carolee Schneemann, Yayoi Kusama, Hannah Wilke, Audre Lorde, and so many others. I am interested in the intersection of femininity, sexuality, and queer theory and culture. It is this intersection where I reside, and within this marginalized crack that my work takes form.

How did VCFA change your approach to thinking about your studio practice and your community at home?

Before coming to VCFA, I just started exploring research-based work. Before this program, the company I had been dancing with leaned into the personal experience. What this program has done for me was to encourage me to look beyond the individual, to research the theories and laws, and explore why we find ourselves in the positions we reside.

For me, I now see my work through a phenomenological feminist lens. I noticed how I experience the world around me and how minute-by-minute meanings can change and shift. It has taught me to become aware of the basic structure of life and fueled me to create art that can impact by changing the parts that I don’t believe are fair or just. It has also allowed me the time and space to discover how I process and channel this information through my artistic practice.

Who were your Artist-Mentors?