STUDIO VISIT: JENNIFER PEPPER
SEP. 30, 2021
STUDIO VISIT: JENNIFER PEPPER
SEP. 30, 2021
Jennifer Pepper combines handwriting, plant life, and recycled beekeeping equipment to create mixed media artworks and installations that seek to express the arcane beauty of standardized systems, such as that of the wooden Langstroth beehive and handwriting. The visual poetry of geometric forms (like the bee cell, the honeycomb frame, etc.), are repeated, written, drawn, or sculpted in increments lending themselves to subtle changes that create intricacies and can become compelling as form.
Over the past 25 years, Jennifer has dedicated herself to the spectrum of art-related endeavors while continuing to work as a studio artist. After earning her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Tennessee, she worked as an art restorer in Dallas, Texas. She received her MFA with honors in studio art with a concentration in painting/drawing and sculpture from the University of North Texas. During her time in Dallas, Texas, she exhibited her work regionally and was a key member in 500X Gallery (one of Texas'; oldest, artist-run, cooperative galleries). She had the unique opportunity to work as assistant curator of education at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth during the museums’ historic move from the original building to the world-class Tadao Ando designed building in 2002.
Since moving to Tennessee in 2005, much of her attention has been devoted to her family, bringing awareness to regional contemporary art, and university instruction. As she also maintains a studio practice, her current artwork (which includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, sound, and video) draws from elements of the landscape that she comes in contact with daily on her semi-rural property ~ such as the rapid growth of invasive plants, loss of honeybees, and the weather. She has been a member of Nashville’s Coop Gallery, a board member of Tri-Star Arts, and teaches studio art courses and art history at both Belmont University and Lipscomb University.