In La Petite Peen Presents, multidisciplinary artist Jess Pope brings her original stage performance into the context of a gallery for the first time, weaving together new layers of meaning through performance and an immersive installation that unapologetically navigates concepts of identity, gender, feminism, and domesticity. Fusing various forms of visual art and performance, this exhibition embodies the internal philosophies of the artist through the caricature of “Petite Peen,” a mystical, curious, clown-like creature. The performance, which combines drag, clown, dance, and theatre, takes the audience through a thought-provoking and humorous adventure into the life of Petite Peen as they explore the many dualities of life. The performance follows Petite Peen as they practice their daily routine, putting on their face and wardrobe as a way of constructing their identity. Petite Peen prances erotically, expressing a myriad of emotions, revealing and eventually unraveling an overly exaggerated crocheted appendage that takes on both masculine and feminine forms. The character explores the complexities of gender and rejects the traditional definition of motherhood by embracing more inclusive ideologies. Using movement and story-telling, the artist leans into the intersection of her experiences and embraces queerness as a disruptive and generative force.. This iteration of La Petite Peen Presents expands this narrative through a variety of craft-based works and found objects. Pope transforms the gallery into a domestic space furnished with a vintage sofa, a television set, and a dining room. Pope disrupts the room with a sprawling yarn installation, a manifestation of the overwhelming expectations society places on women. Visitors walk through hundreds of tentacle-like woven threads, each one representing a mental note, task, reminder, or responsibility that comes with being a mother and the pressure to keep track of every aspect of life. She continues to challenge this notion with an accumulation of receipts and to-do lists, interspersed with family photographs and imaginative childhood drawings hung on lace and sheer curtains. She pins the joys and hardships of mothering against each other, balancing the amount of work and attention motherhood requires with the value this identity brings her. Each piece in La Petite Peen Presents brings forth important questions about our roles in society and encourages others to join the artist in embracing alternative ways of being. Jess Pope (American, born 1984) is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses dance, performance, photography, videography, and installation. She received a BA from Ringling College of Art and Design and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In January 2023, she participated in the Micro WIP residency at the Ringling Museum of Art, creating a ten-minute performance entitled La Petite Peen Presents. In June 2023, she performed an extended version of the performance for the Squeaky Wheel Fringe Festival, which won the Audience Choice Award. In March 2024, she performed in Florida Woman at the Ringling Museum of Art. She currently lives and works in Sarasota, Florida.