Rose B. Simpson


Rose B. Simpson , also known as Rose Bean Simpson, is a mixed-media artist who works in ceramic, metal, fashion, painting, music, performance, and installation. She lives and works in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Her work has been exhibited at SITE Santa Fe ; the Heard Museum ; the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe ; the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian ; and the Denver Art Museum.

Education

Simpson studied art at the University of New Mexico and the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, where she received her BFA in 2007. She went on to receive an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is also a graduate of the now defunct automotive science program at Northern New Mexico College in Española, New Mexico.

Artwork

Simpson's artwork investigates the complex issues of past, present and future aspects of Native America, including issues surrounding identity and of cultural survival. In her exhibition at Pomona College Museum of Art she acted within the role of artist and curator. She mined the museum's collections to recontextualize historical objects among her own sculptures to "obliterate the western dichotomy of aesthetic versus utilitarian objects to propose an indigenous aesthetic of use and human connectedness'. Her intention in doing so was "to ground oneself is to reconnect physically to the earth, to root, to restore power, to build a strong foundation."
In 2016, her work was included in Con Cariño: Artists Inspired by Lowriders at the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Exhibitions

Simpson has had a solo museum retrospective exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe New Mexico, titled LIT: The Work of Rose B. Simpson. The museum produced a catalog of Simpson's work in conjunction with the exhibition. In 2016 she had a solo exhibition, entitled Ground, at the Pomona College Museum of Art, California.
In 2019 to 2020, she was in the traveling exhibition, “Hearts of Our People”. For this exhibition, Simpson created a sculptural work, Maria, as an homage to the San Ildefonso Native American ceramicist, Maria Martinez in which she modified and customized a 1985 Chevy El Camino with San Ildefonso blackware pottery designs.

Collections

Simpson comes from a long line of Santa Clara Pueblo ceramic artists, including her mother Roxanne Swentzell, and her great grandfather, Michael Naranjo. Her father is the sculptor, Patrick Simpson.

Musical career

For a number of years, Simpson was the lead singer in the Native American punk band, Chocolate Helicopter. Sha also played in the hip-hop band, Garbage Pail Kidz.