Two new larger-than-life figures invite visitors to pause as they walk through the atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
鈥淚 think the role of art in humanity is to give us back that patience to perceive the world around us,鈥� said Rose B. Simpson, who created the sculptures for the museum at her studio in Santa Clara Pueblo, an indigenous community in northern New Mexico.
Two years ago, Simpson visited Cleveland for the first time and was struck by the museum's spacious, light-filled atrium where her sculptures now stand.
鈥淚t represents to me this crazy manifestation of our dreams,鈥� she said. 鈥淪omeone one time decided to close in the space with this massive glass ceiling 鈥� This is incredible, and this is monumental. But it's also a blip in the story of time.鈥�
Simpson illustrates the 鈥渟tory of time鈥� through the two, 25-foot-tall figures 鈥� titled 鈥淪trata.鈥� They rest atop a metal platform etched with 鈥渁 mystical creature that wraps itself around in bone form鈥� enclosing large stones at the base.
鈥淚t's the raw material of the past,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it's still there, right? It's what's holding it all up.鈥�
Along the platforms holding the figures, visitors can run their fingers over what she called 鈥渟eismic braille鈥� and feel the welds she made.
鈥淲e are always influenced by the movement of the Earth,鈥� she said.
The bodies of the figures reflect the colorful layers of the Earth. At the bust is where 鈥渉umanity begins,鈥� Simpson said.
鈥淲e are witnessing, we are hearing, we are smelling, we are being in this space,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e exist between the dream world and the spiritual place.鈥�
The rain clouds at the top of the figures signify how the cycle repeats.
Commissioned for Cleveland
鈥淪trata鈥� will reside in the atrium of the museum through April 2025. Simpson was commissioned to create for the space after some of her small-scale sculptures were exhibited in the contemporary exhibit 鈥淧icturing Motherhood Now鈥� in 2021.
鈥淲e were blown away, because we could just tell the craftsmanship that she used to create these handmade sculptures. You can see her fingerprints in the clay. You can see that she's thought through every aspect of it,鈥� said Nadiah Rivera Fellah, curator of contemporary art, about the initial works the museum displayed.
Simpson鈥檚 new large-scale works were logistically challenging. They weigh more than 2,000 pounds and rest above art stored below the atrium. The installation in Cleveland was the first time all of the pieces were stacked upon one another.
鈥淭hey stand so monumentally, and there's almost an effortless quality to them being here, even though it was quite a great deal of labor and effort on the artist鈥檚 part,鈥� Rivera Fellah said. 鈥淭hey sort of seem like they were just beamed down from somewhere.鈥�
Sculpture has been in Simpson鈥檚 family for generations. A current exhibit of her work in West Palm Beach, Florida, includes pieces by her mother, Roxanne Swentzell, as well as her grandmother and great-grandmother. Simpson also has large-scale sculptures on view in two public parks in New York City.
After the installation of 鈥淪trata鈥� in Cleveland, Simpson said she was trying to stay in 鈥渟uspended disbelief.鈥�
鈥淲hen I sit in my silence, it'll speak to me more,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 hope it does that for other people, too.鈥�
