Biography
Lorelei Pepi
holds a BFA in Illustration from RISD and an MFA in Experimental Animation from California Institute of the Arts. Prior to pursuing the fine arts,
she was heavily involved in theater performance. Pepi co-created and ran the
art studio, Rocket Dog, which from 1990–1994 created sculptural reproductions
of gargoyles, which sold work internationally. Pepi worked in commercial animation
in 1989-90 with Olive jar Studio in Boston, MA, and from 1996-2000 with a
variety of studios in Los Angeles. Ranging from small feature film, commercial
and web media development, her various roles included animator, designer,
commercial director and creative director.
While living in Los Angeles, from 1995-97, Pepi served as a
founding faculty member of the Animation Dept. for the ongoing California Arts
Partnership and Inner City Arts, which brought animation to underserved
inner-city Los Angeles children. In 1998–2001, she participated as Faculty and then
Dept. Chair for the Animation Dept. with the California State Summer School for
the Arts, a program for artistic high school students. Since 2000, Pepi has held
long-term visiting college faculty positions at Harvard University, School of
the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Rochester Institute of the Arts and RISD, all of
which have involved teaching animation arts.
Pepi’s approach to animation is to see it as a growing,
shifting conceptual and methodological puzzle that correlates the fine arts
with time, duration, space, light, color, composition, sound, shadow and
gesture. Her film work encompasses a range of the highly experimental and
personal (Grace) to the socio-politically motivated cartoon (Happy & Gay.)
Her additional research is exploring the use of animation in interactive theatrical
space, dimensional form, performance, site-specificity and responsive
technologies. One of her courses at RISD has been specific to pursuing these
ideas, resulting in students using animation in sculpture, performance, projection
environments and interactive installations.
Pepi’s animation work has been supported by various
international animation festival awards, a MacDowell Fellowship, Harvard Film
Study Fellowship, LEF Moving Image Grant, Rhode Island State Council on the
Arts Fellowship Grant, RISD Faculty Grant, as well as various exhibitions and
Visiting Lecture invitations.
Academic Research/Areas of Interest
Animation Filmmaking
Animation History and Critical Study
Cultivation of Deep Process
Interdisciplinary Practices
Responsive and Interactive Media
Dimensional Kinetic Arts
Installation
Performance