MIXED-MEDIA MESSAGES

TULSA-BORN ARTIST THRIVES IN NEW YORK.

BY ZACK REEVES

Julie Peppito has always stood out a little. e multidisciplinary artist was the only member of her family to be born in Tulsa, coming from an Italian-Irish family of New Yorkers who moved to Oklahoma to get closer to the American dream. Peppito’s art, similarly, is a complex re ection on that dream.

Her kaleidoscopic work comprises sculpture, drawing and painting, often mixing the three. Alternating between senseless and sensible with the air of Lewis Carroll, her pieces are reminiscent of dreams: swirling colors, reimagined animals, organic patterns growing out of arti cial forms. A child’s innocent love of detritus is evident here, as her works are full of treasure made from cast-o ephemera and found objects.

“I was a teenager in the ’80s, and I was very into going thrift shopping and nding clothes and remaking them into my own fashion,” Peppito says. “And in the stores, there were all these plastic bags lled with all this stu that no one wanted anymore. I started thinking: ‘Where did this come from? Where is it going? Why are people throwing it away, and why isn’t it valuable anymore?’ Eventually I started using that in my art.”

And by “that,” she means the questions, as well as the stu . Peppito’s work grapples with weighty questions of capitalist overproduction by juxtaposing the ostensibly innocent against much more serious and urgent undertones. A tapestry of Peppito’s titled “It’s In e Water,” which was displayed in 2018 at Living Arts of Tulsa, contrasts a plastic red re engine, a stu ed animal and other found objects against a worried black and white gure at the bottom.

“It is about the troubling fact that these things that we buy to make our children happy are also killing them, due to the pollution their production and disposal causes,” Peppito says of the tapestry.

One of her most recent outdoor installations at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden featured mosaics, paintings and sculptures of ve endangered species of birds integrated into a maximalist birdhouse.

Birds actually helped create Peppito’s rst artistic success: rst place in a statewide competition for a turkey she drew in the rst grade at Mayo Elementary. From there, Booker T. Washington High School’ s Linda Stilley served as a mentor and teacher, helping Peppito shape her portfolio for college, which she attended on a full tuition scholarship to e Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. She received her MFA from Alfred University and now lives with her partner and son in Brooklyn, teaching art and exhibiting her work across the country.

Find more at juliepeppito.com or on Instagram @juliepeppito. TP

In Their Own Words

After immigrating to the United States from Vietnam, Rev. Duy Nguyen was ordained as a priest and now works full-time as a chaplain at Bishop Kelley High School, where he shares a treasured bond with the students. Nguyen answered questions from his office surrounded by personal mementos — photos of him with Pope Francis, sticky notes from students and some religious artwork.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PRIEST, AND HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS YOUR CALLING? I have been ordained for five years. The first time I thought about the priesthood was when I was (13) in Vietnam. I loved serving mass. (The priest) was celebrating the mass and I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, how special he is to be able to offer the mass and to make the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”

HOW DO YOU CONNECT TEENAGERS TO VOLUNTEERING AND MINISTRY WORK? What I try to do is just to build a relationship with them. By knowing them, by inviting them to be a part of what I love, they respond ... Every Wednesday through the generosity of Catholic Charities, we go downtown sharing little snacks or some hot chocolate with (the homeless community). We give them something tangible, but more than that, it’s just validation and love that we can offer to them.

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? I get to see the students and my parishioners every single day. We share everything together — the joy, the sorrows, their successes, their failures. Then every once in a while you see things change because of their love for the Lord and how the Lord works through them. It is so edifying to see that. — ABBY MEDICO

READ MORE OF THIS DISCUSSION AT TULSAPEOPLE.COM.