I make artwork exploring the connections between entities in the world through the matter that makes up bodies. I work with materials including minerals and metals to examine these relationships, and to draw attention to the ways in which these relationships manifest. For me, the processes occurring in the artwork are as important as the physical materials – processes that occur over time such as evaporation and other state changes, or that occur when one material is introduced to another.
I am drawn to these materials and processes because I am convinced that we, as humans, are not separate from the rest of the world, but are deeply embedded within it. As a Paakehaa living and working in Aotearoa New Zealand, I am the product of a long lineage of Western thought and philosophy that strives to place humans as outside the rest of ‘nature’. My art making is an attempt to place myself firmly back in the world. The materials that make up my body connect me to that beyond my skin, which itself is a porous membrane, temporarily holding me together while allowing for transfer across the skin.
I return again and again to the materials that exist inside my body, minerals and metals that support living systems such as iron, copper, and calcium. How do they behave in the world? Where are they from and what do they do? How does the mineral and metallic help us to recognise the connections between all?
I work with sculpture, installation and image making to explore these questions.
Biography
Simpson was awarded a practice led, visual art PhD in 2024 from Te Waananga Aronui o Taamaki Makaurau /AUT. She received an MFA (First Class Honours) from Elam in 2016. In 2017, 2020 and 2021 she attended a summer school programme exploring Posthumanism, with Prof. Rosi Braidotti at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. In 2021 she was invited to create an Artist Lab for summer school participants. In 2018 she was the recipient of a Wild Creations grant from CNZ and DOC.
She was the post graduate representative for Association for the Study of Literature, Environment & Culture, Australia & New Zealand (ASLEC-ANZ) until 2025.
From 2017 to 2021, she was a member of the RM Gallery and Project Space directorial collective.
Selected Exhibitions
Upcoming: Range, May 2026, Eyes on Fire Gallery
Handheld V2, December 2026, Franklin Art Centre
There is (no) Anthropocene, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch, Nov 2025 – Jan 2026
Stonesense, St Paul St Gallery, 2024
breathing space /space breathing, with with Lucy Boermans, Yana M’Baye and Michelle Mayn, St Paul St Gallery, 2023
Fielding, with Clare Fleming and Jill McIntosh, St Paul St Gallery 3, Auckland 2022
From things flow, with Kate van der Drift, Kathryn Tulloch and Teresa Peters, RM Gallery, Auckland 2021
Unthought, Corban Estate Art Centre, Auckland 2020-2021
Sculpture on the Gulf, Waiheke Island, Auckland 2019
Small Sculpture Showcase and Marquettes, Waiheke Community Art Gallery 2019
The Entities, a collaboration with Sarah Callesen, RM Gallery, Auckland 2018
Hardly Working with Deborah Rundle, Clare Fleming and Wendelien Bakker, RM Gallery, Auckland 2017
Ancient Air, (Arts Diary documentation here) IWT Gallery and Project Space, Auckland 2017
Until you make it, Project Space, Auckland 2016
What ever happened to the heroes? Graduate exhibition, Elam School of Art, Auckland 2016
The no-place of possibility, Elam School of Art, Auckland 2015
By Then, (Arts Diary documentation here) George Fraser Gallery, Auckland 2015
One Thing For Certain, Railway St Studio, Auckland 2014
Earlier Highlights
Space Yourself, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Auckland 2013 (solo)
Like – Comment – Share, CEAC, Auckland (read CEAC article here and Arts Diary documentation here) 2012 (solo)
Hoopla! Artstation with support from Creative Communities
Subduction, interactive sound and video installation, Artspace, Auckland
Subduction, video, Short Cuts Film Festival, Auckland and Wellington
Wriggler, video projection, Soliton, Auckland
Competitions/Awards
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award 2020 Te koputu a te whanga a Toi Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre
Winner, Walker and Hall National Art Award- Michael Evans Award 2012 : see more here
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D Award 2018 Te koputu a te whanga a Toi Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre
Finalist, Small Sculpture Prize 2017 Waiheke Art Gallery
Finalist, Fieldays No.8 Wire National Art Award 2017 Waikato Museum
Finalist, Objective Art Award 2013 Mangere Arts Centre – Nga Tohu o Uenuku
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Award 2013 Te koputu a te whanga a Toi Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre
Education
PhD, Auckland University of Technology, 2024
Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), University of Auckland, 2016
Certificate in Tertiary Training, Auckland University of Technology
Bachelor of Arts (History) and Senior Prize in History, University of Auckland