photographyfilmperformance-installationexhibitionspressbiocontact
Sheila and Nick Pye
Loudly, Death Unties

Loudly, Death Unties

Written & Directed by Nicholas & Sheila Pye
HD, 11 min.
2007

A young man and woman’s isolated life is interrupted when a child burrows her way into the back room of their dilapidated shack. Like the wail of a banshee, she begins to play a haunting song to them on her violin, warning them of death. Unable to get into the mysterious room, they become increasingly perplexed and frustrated by her presence. When the woman begins to become unaffected by the forces of gravity, he must decide to heed the banshee’s call and say goodbye to his lover.
A Life of Errors

A Life of Errors

Written & Directed by Nicholas & Sheila Pye
16mm 14 min.
2006

In a decrepit three-room house two lovers, played by the filmmakers, fall out of each other's graces and turn bitter enemies without exchanging words. In the theatrical dream world of their sleep, they endeavor to harm each other though a series of childish games which inevitably go too far. Growing increasingly distrustful of one another, these somnambulists become skilled at the unmaking of love.
Untitled

Untitled

Written & Directed by Sheila & Nicholas Pye
16mm, DVD installation, (7min loop)
2005

Summer turns to winter as memories of the past are purified through fire. Ghosts of a man and woman stand in an abandoned field as seasons change. The two are engulfed in flame as they vanish and reappear in an imaginary landscape.
The Arsonist

The Arsonist

Written & Directed by Sheila & Nicholas Pye
Super 16mm, 13 min.
2005

On an isolated farm 8 year old Nicole awakes on a summer morning. In those early moments between waking and rising, she remembers an encounter from last winter with an elderly woman in a snowstorm. Her thoughts, imagination and boredom are satisfied through fire.
The Paper Wall

The Paper Wall

Written & Directed by Sheila & Nicholas Pye
Super 16mm, 11 min
2004

Boxed into twin rooms separated by a thin wall, a brother and sister communicate their desires. Stunning, provocative, and perplexing, the pair is irresistible to watch as they become increasingly physically and emotionally dependent on one another.
Prototype for Pregnancy

Prototype for Pregnancy

Directed by Sheila Pye
16mm, 3 min
2003

A lush tapestry of milk and paint is created asa fluid spills from the mouths of two young lovers. Tactile kisses infuse the surface of this hand processed film.
Untitled

Unitled

Written & Directed by Sheila Pye
16 mm. 7 min.
2002

An abandoned farmhouse serves as the catalyst for the exploration of childhood, memory and domestic architecture. The elusive process of recollecting the past, both fabricated and real, is examined as a young girl moves from one decrepit room to the next. The protagonist, played by the director, is a girl on the verge of womanhood who exorcises her past by destroying the house.
The Lesson

The Lesson

Written & Directed by Sheila Pye
16mm. 8 min.
2001

Inspired by the existentialist writer Eugene Ionesco, the story unfolds in a middle-class drawing room during a non specific time period. A professor, his young pupil, and his maid study the cirriculum of the absurd. As the lesson continues, communication breaks down, language faulters, and the professor loses control. The characters in the film are rendered emotionless and marionette like by the animated style in which the film was shot.