Sheila Pepe, Resident Artist Lecture 2013

Sheila Pepe gives a lecture at Skowhegan spanning her practice as an artist investigating her interests in pedagogy, installation, textiles, sculpture, and activism. Observing similarities and shared differences, naming and holding naming at bay, and the relationship between ephemerality and permanence are the main activities that drive Pepe’s work. Pepe also reflects on the importance of chronology, for it allows her to honour that which comes first. Pepe’s relationship to chronology also drives her interest in history: it gives Pepe the tools to try and be a part of something and create work that can last longer. Pepe also reflects on her experiences growing up as an Italian Catholic, and how studying the iconography of catholicism has allowed her to re-embrace it. Notions of domesticity are also important for Pepe. Domesticity has given Pepe the freedom to bring domesticity into patriarchal institutions, and appreciate the beauty of it’s craft.