Inspired By | Lorna Simpson

Continuing my series about artists that inspire, Lorna Simpson's work both inspires and challenges the way I think. Simpson grew up in New York in the 60s and 70s, immersed in the arts community - going to museums, plays and concerts with her parents. At that time, New York was evolving from the abstract expressionism movement of the 50s into the American Pop Art movement of Warhol in the 60s and 70s. Surrounded by the socio and political change of that era, her environment fed artistic exploration.

Lorna Simpson, Born in Brooklyn 1960

Simpson went to art school in New York, pursuing photography first then evolving into mixed media after receiving her MFA from UC San Diego (yep, right in our backyard!). Her work focus' on the details but tells a much larger story. She combines photography and text that defied traditional conceptions of sex, identity, race, culture, history, and memory. Her work is thoughtfully connected from the image to the text to the materials and layout. 

Her work reminds me to step back and look deeper. I admire it because it's interesting, it's progressive and it's just the right amount of raw.

Stereo Styles, 1988

"My practice as an artist does not work out of a single viewpoint of photographic practice. I experiment with many different mediums for the sake of coming to experience different processes. Conceptually, I enjoy working in different mediums—outside my comfort zone and range of experience—and how that exploration expands the content of my work."

- Lorna Simpson, In an interview with Aperture Magazine

Words by Kelly Loreto | Images from the world wide web. 

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