Jess Pope
Visiting Artist, MFA Visual Art
Profile
Jess is originally from Sacramento, California, and moved to Sarasota, Florida in 1992. She graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Art in Visual Studies with a minor in photography and Imaging, Business of Art and Design, and Video Communications. She received her MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2021.
As a multi-media artist, their work explores identity and the human body to transform time and language through performance, still and moving images, and drag. They aim to dissolve hierarchies between the artist and the viewer to provide a layer of space where genuine connection can happen. With a focus on the act of Queer Mothering, less as a gendered identity and more of a call to action, she asks the viewer to examine their own beliefs on this topic to self-reflect and connect to a communal story.