J P 제피 

J P 제피 

Born: 1976, Astoria, OR

Biography and Information

Biography
J P 제피 (b. 1976) has a multimedia practice encompassing fiber, sculpture, installation, performance, sound, and community practice. In Tree Ceremony,  J P 제피 creates a novel ceremony that borrows elements from Korean traditions of honoring sacred trees. Central to this work is J P 제피‘s spiritual connection with this tree, which they climbed daily for three months preceding the ceremony. During the event, participant/witnesses weave together ropes with multicolored fabrics and ribbons to adorn the tree and later left at the base. The artist’s original song, 우리 나무 We Tree, deepens the theme of connecting with non-human relatives in a spirit of reverence and renewal.

The string pieces are from the series Odds & Ends or 잔재 (jan-jae) which translates to remnant or discard in Korean. Saving remnants since s(he) was a child, J P 제피 has always found beauty in discarded bits and sees these as a metaphor for how people living in the margins are often discarded by society. In Odds & Ends, the artist transforms discarded scraps into vibrant compositions with thready edges that symbolize breaking out of the box.

J P 제피 (s(he)/(he)r, he/him, they/them) is a bicultural and bigender multidisciplinary artist most known for their sculptural string artworks. The artist incorporates community, social practice, ceremony, sound, folk songs, sculpture, site-specific installation, works on paper, and performance into (he)r practice. He was named one of the 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now in 2022 and was awarded the Artists at Work residency in the Borderlands Region. Their work has been presented at the New Mexico Museum of Art, Louisiana Art and Science Museum, and the Cornell Art Museum. Currently, s(he) is included in the inaugural exhibition, Shadow and Light, at the Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe.   J P 제피 lives and works in Albuquerque, NM.

Small pieces of wood, scraps of paper, discarded cloth. I have boxes and boxes of remnants from my art practice that I reuse and integrate into new works. Our systems and social structures do not value the leftovers, the discards, and the remnants. People on the margins are treated this way too. I see beauty in the small bits and fragments and hope for a world in which more of our fragmentation and discards can be honored for their inherent value. — J P 제피

Education
2008
MLIS, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

1997
BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA

Solo and Two–Person Exhibitions
2022
나의 형체 (This is the Shape of Me), Kouri + Corrao Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2021
And the Unseen Colors Erupt, SLATE Contemporary Gallery, Oakland, CA

2020
New and Recent Work, Gallery FRITZ, Santa Fe, NM

2019
Tethered Reflections, Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX

2018
Women in the Arts Solo Exhibition, McCray Gallery, WNMU, Silver City, NM

2017
Resonant Fragments, Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX

2016
Irregularities, Durango Art Center Art Library, Durango, CO

2012
UnQuiet Chroma, Taylor de Cordoba Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2010
Subsuming Chaos, Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, Durango, CO

2007
Thought Forms, 301 Bocana Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2006
New Work, Pulliam Deffenbaugh, Portland, OR

2005
Extrusions, Sarah Lee Artworks and Projects, Santa Monica, CA
ThreadWorks, Ampersand, San Francisco, CA

2003
r o y g b p, Gallery 364 Hayes, San Francisco, CA

Group Exhibitions
2024
Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2023
Shadow and Light, New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Roots: Korean Diaspora, Aborn Gallery, Providence, RI

2022
Toy Music Festival, Performative sculpture, Seoul, South Korea
Wo/Manhouse 2022, Through the Flower, Belen, NM
12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now, Southwest Contemporary & Pie Projects, Santa Fe, NM

2021
(Re)Opened, KOURI + CORRAO, Santa Fe, NM

2020
Constellations, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM
Alcoves 2020, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Harmonies in Color, Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Baton Rouge, LA

2019
Not Your Muse, Liz Lidgett Gallery + Design, Des Moines, IA

2018
Contact: Local to Global, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM

2017
Future Fabrication: International Exhibition in Print, Surface Design, Winter

2017
Unfolding the Process, Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX
Fabricated, Cornell Art Museum, Delray Beach, FL

2016
Trifecta, exhibit by aberson, Tulsa, OK
The World is Flat Not Round, PHILSPACE, Santa Fe, NM

2013
Juried Exhibition-in-Print, New American Paintings: West No. 108
Perception: Color, Line, Pattern, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO

2011
Recrafting History, Taylor de Cordoba Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2008
Natural Cycles, Art in the Forest at Tryon Creek State Park, Portland, OR
Blurring the Line: the Art of Thread, Pulliam Deffenbaugh, Portland, OR

2007
Juried Exhibition-in-Print, New American Paintings: Pacific Coast No. 73

2006
Momentum, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

2005
Conceptual Craft: The Art of Textile & Fabric, RPS Collective, Oakland, CA
Introductions, Pulliam Deffenbaugh, Portland, OR

2004
Common Thread, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA

Commissions and Public Art
7/S Denver Haus, Denver, CO
AC Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix, AZ
Albemarle, Charlotte, NC
Bernal Hill Project: Thought Form, San Francisco, CA
Capital One, Plano, TX
Fine Art Collection, United States Embassy permanent collection, Accra, Ghana
Lenox Boardwalk, Austin, TX
Marriot Marquis, Atlanta, GA
Ocean Beach Project: Duneweed, San Francisco, CA
Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), Los Angeles, CA
Undisclosed Tech Company, Los Lunas, NM
UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX

Awards and Residencies
2024-25 Urban Enhancement Trust Fund Artist Resiliency Residency, Albuquerque, NM
2022-23 Artists at Work, Borderlands Region, Albuquerque, NM

Press
2024
Joni Palmer, Public Art Journeys – Stepping Up and Into Public Art, Take Another Look podcast, Albuquerque Public Art, August 14

2022
My Jender is Tree, Pechakucha Night, Vol. 15: Perception, Nov 10
Stephanie Fairyington, The artist J P (formerly Jen Pack) brings her history and work into a den in Judy Chicago’s Wo/Manhouse 50 years later, Oprah Daily, Nov
s(he), (he)r, we: An exquisite-corpse style proposal for a dialogue on inter-being, The Brooklyn Rail, Sharon Mizota and Jen Pack, Jul/Aug issue
12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now in 2022, Southwest Contemporary Field Guide
A solo show that utilizes thread to create lines of color, some obvious and others more subtle, David Graver, Cool Hunting, May 23

2020
Jacqueline Hirsh Greene, Review: Jen Pack,  gallery FRITZ, Apr 9
David Behringer, Incredible Objects From Armory Art Fair Week 2020, Design Milk, Mar 25

2019
Robin Miller, Jen Pack’s installation for the Louisiana Art & Science Museum is a ‘Chromatic Chorus’ in thread, The Advocate, Sept 23

2017
Jen Pack’s Fabric Sculpture at Carneal Simmons Contemporary, Modern Dallas TV, Episode 124, Oct 3
Jen Pack: Resonant Fragments at Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art, Todd Camplin Weekly, Modern Dallas, Sept 29

2016
Deianira Tolema, Jen Pack: Undisputed Queen of Fabric Art at Exhibit by Aberson,  Arte Fuse, June 4
Appropriation and Authenticity: An Artist’s Assessment, Jen Pack, Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture, vol 13, issue 3
David Holub, Durango artist’s unique artwork, The Durango Herald, Jan 7

2013
Rachel Crabb, 50 Shades of Chiffon, American Craft Magazine, Aug/Sept issue
Larissa Greer, Jen Pack’s Fabric-on-Frame Installations, Beautiful Decay, Jul 14

2012
Ellen Caldwell, UnQuiet Chroma at Taylor de Cordoba, NAP Blog, Nov 6

2011
Ellen Caldwell, Fabrications with Jen Pack, New American Paintings Blog, Sept 7

2009
Tryon Creek Installation, Oregon Art Beat, Oregon Public Broadcast, Apr 23

2008
Bob Hicks, Blurring the Line: the Art of Thread, The Oregonian, Sept 18

2005
Leah Ollman, Stitched Works: Tangled Threads, LA Times, Aug 19
Barbara Morris, Jen Pack and Philippe Jestin at Ampersand, Artweek, Mar issue

Press Release
2024 Richard Levy Gallery at Atlanta Art Fair
2024 Trees at Richard Levy Gallery
2024 four by four at Richard Levy Gallery