Rose B. Simpson‘s 2022 sculpture, Sip 1, on view at the Rose Art Museum is constructed of various materials–fired ceramic, string, steel, stones, and grout. The resulting creature is a hybrid of animal and human parts–a human head, lizard tail, reptilian scales, a serpent’s neck.
Rose B. Simpson, a young Tewa artist, has said “I think in clay…Clay was the earth that grew our food, was the house we lived in, was the pottery we ate out of and prayed with. So my relationship to clay is ancestral and I think it has a deep genetic memory. It’s like a family member for us.” Sip 1‘s unearthly presence is both belied and accented by its heavy, earthly materials. Simpson’s foremothers were also artists, and her work eloquently represents both deep knowledge of materials and construction, and a melding of spirit and clay.
A working sculptor 