She/They
http://nicolesarasimpkins.com
simpkins.nicole@gmail.com
Drawing/Painting, Interdisciplinary, Printmaking/Paper/Books
In-person

BIO 

My work uses printmaking, writing, and drawing to explore entanglements of culture, ecosystems, and personal healing. “Invasive” plants are my central metaphor and my abiding curiosity. I study their growth patterns and the stories people tell about them. I carve botanically accurate linoleum prints of plants like tansy, garlic mustard, and kudzu, and then I transform these prints into cut-paper installations, inviting viewers into a dynamic reflection on the transitional ecosystems where these plants persist. Cultural values influence ecology and environmental policy, and I see the notion of “invasive” plants as emblematic of non-objectivity in the way we designate value. As climate change alters ecosystems, their tendency to adapt and persist may be worth considering. My work calls attention to the complex interplay between culture and plants///self and world///ecology and psychology. Throughout, I explore physical and metaphorical layers, webs, associations, queerings, linkings, patternings, and inchoate healings. Ecosystems are culture-having formations, and my work uses printmaking to consider how all species alter their environments. I want to create conditions where we can bear to see the truth of how things are, and where vibrant new possibilities for repair and collaboration might become visible for the first time. I am an artist and educator living and working in Minneapolis. My work is informed by ecology, animism, and curiosity about interconnectedness. I make large-scale sculptural drawing installations, prints, artist books and performances. I have an MFA in Printmaking from Indiana University – Bloomington and a BA in English and Creative Writing from Macalester College. I have taught courses in Drawing and Printmaking at MCAD, Macalester, UW-Stout, and Indiana University. I am a recipient of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and I have attended residencies at Millay Arts, The Ucross Foundation, The Vermont Studio Center, The Jentel Foundation, Artspace Raleigh, The Future, and The White Page, and have exhibited work locally and nationally. I am a 2022-2023 Mcknight Printmaking Fellow.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY & MENTORSHIP

In my drawing classes, I teach my students to look at the relationships between forms more than forms themselves. This is foundational to my teaching philosophy and my own creative practice – I see the world as “a knot in motion,” as Donna Haraway phrases it, where all matter is bound up in relationship. As a mentor, it is my delight to point out connections and possible threads of inquiry. I love materiality and material thinking, complexity, narrative, folklore, literature and contemporary art that defies disciplinary classification.