Alexandre Pépin joins the Department of Art and Art History as an assistant professor of practice. He was previously a lecturer in the department. Pépin draws from the legacy of Byzantine and Early Renaissance Frescoes, Post-Impressionism, Tonalism, The Viennese Secession, and Pattern and Decoration to portray moments of Queer intimacy and spiritual contemplation.
Tell us about the classes you’ll be teaching this year.
This semester I’m teaching an intermediate painting course with a material emphasis. In this class we’ll explore alternatives to traditional uses of oil paint, such as painting with aggregates like sand and pumice, or materials like gum arabic, tempera, wax, varnishes, etc. I am excited to explore the poetic potential contained in the materiality of paint, and help students find their voices in a visual language that reflects their unique sensibilities.
What attracted you to the Department of Art and Art History and The University of Texas at Austin?
I first did my MFA in Studio Arts at UT and fell in love with Austin. I thought I was going to come to Texas for a two year program and go back to Montreal shortly after, but here I am, beginning the 5th year of my Texan life!
I found an incredibly close-knit artistic community here in Austin, filled with the resources I need to grow as an artist. The Department of Art and Art History has an incredible Faculty, and I hope to continue to exchange knowledge and ideas with other members of our broad CoFA community!
How did your professional pathway lead to your focus?
I’ve been drawn to express myself in visual forms for as long as I can remember. I work primarily with painting and drawing, as I find these media to be the most intimate and direct ways to get to an image, but I also have a particular affection for textiles, tapestries and ceramics, which I studied in my undergraduate years. I consider teaching as a way to bring new energy and foster transformation in my practice, and I see my classes (and my students!) as part of the broader organism that generates my artistic work. I first saw teaching as a way to support my studio practice, but I now see spending time with my students as an integral part of my creative process. Teaching has become increasingly necessary to further my practice and make meaningful work.
What’s something that students and colleagues should know about you?
I am Quebecois (French-Canadian) and learned English as a second language while I was completing my undergraduate degree. It has been quite a journey for me to get to where I am, adapting to live and learn in a second language, in a different culture, and far from where I was rooted, but the experience has been extremely rewarding, if not always easy. I am Queer and an Immigrant to the United States and I want students to know that I am here to support them in their individual journeys, no matter how far they come from and no matter where they believe they need to go, and that while I cannot be in their shoes, I can draw from the well of my experience to be as much of a support to their growth as I can.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not teaching/researching/working?
Recently, I have been trying to revive the remnants of my childhood piano lessons to learn piano as an adult… the 7 year-old me dropped the towel but it's never too late to pick it back up! If I am not painting or playing piano, I am watching films at Austin Film Society, spending time doing indoor climbing, or else I might be gone for a hike. If I am nowhere to be found in Austin I am probably off to West Texas to spend time alone in the immensity of the desert, gone for a road trip to an American museum I haven’t yet seen, or spending time with my family in Quebec.