Rose B Simpson Journeys of Clay

Catalogue of the Rose B. Simpson Journeys of Clay exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art in 2024. Part of the R.A.W. (Recognizing Art by Women) series at the Norton.

Rose B. Simpson is an artist, a mother, and the daughter of a matrilineal line of ceramicists and potters spanning nearly 70 generations. The exhibition presents a comprehensive survey of the last decade of Rose B. Simpson’s artistic career. The show positions Simpson’s work in the greater context of family and womanhood, exploring the relationships between the artist and her maternal relatives and their influences on her work. A member of the Santa Clara Pueblo (Tewa: Kha-'Po Owingeh) in New Mexico, Simpson combines her ancestral and contemporary knowledge to create mixed media sculptures using clay, organic found items, and mechanical hardware.

Featured alongside Simpson's work are sculptures by her mother, Roxanne Swentzell, a prolific artist whose expressive figures inspired Simpson; her grandmother, Rina Swentzell, who was a well-known academic, activist, and architect; and her great-grandmother, the artist Rose Naranjo, who was the center of gravity that connected Simpson’s many talented and successful relatives.

Text by Arden Sherman, Pamela Solares, Rose B. Simpson, Rina Swentzell, Roxanne Swentzell, Beata Tsosie-Pena, Ghislain d'Humières.

Hardcover. 116 pages.