Lorraine Simms facts for kids

Lorraine Simms RCA is a Canadian artist born in 1956. She is known for her paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Simms creates art that makes people think about what they see and what might be hidden.

About Lorraine Simms' Art Life

Lorraine Simms studied art at the Ontario College of Art, finishing in 1978. She later earned her Master's degree from Concordia University in 1990. Simms began her professional art career in 1991. Today, she lives and works in Montréal, Canada. She also taught art at Dawson College and Concordia University.

Her artwork has been shown in many important places. These include museums and galleries across Canada and the United States. Some places are the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Simms has received many awards and grants for her art. She also helps other artists by organizing exhibitions of their work.

Simms creates art using painting, drawing, and sculptures. She often works on different series, each with a special theme. Her art tries to show a balance between what you can see and what you can imagine. For many years, Simms has focused on animal forms in her art. She uses things like plush toys, taxidermy (stuffed animals), and animal bones.

Art Series by Lorraine Simms

Shadowland: Exploring Animal Bones

From 2018 until now, Lorraine Simms has been working on a large drawing series called Shadowland. For this series, she studies the bones and skins of animals. These animals are often those that are rare or in danger. Simms researched these drawings at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

The Shadowland drawings show the detailed shadows cast by animal skulls and bones. They invite viewers to think about animals in a deeper way. They also make us consider our connection to animals and the future of life on Earth. These drawings have been shown in several exhibitions. This includes the Canadian Museum of Nature in 2021.

Plush: Soft Toys in Art

Between 2010 and 2018, Simms created art using plush toys. She made three different painting series and several sculptures. These artworks explore how soft toys can change our view of reality. An art writer, René Viau, noted that her paintings are very skillful. They show the texture of fake fur in a clever way.

Spectral and The Interview: A Unique Look

In 2010, Simms made many small paintings on paper. These paintings explored two different subjects. One was close-up details of Michael Jackson's face. The other was close-ups of plush toys. These works were first shown in an exhibition called Spectral.

Along with this exhibition, Simms published a book titled The Interview. This book included a fictional interview with Michael Jackson. It also had digital images and some paintings from her Spectral series.

Fugitive: Mysterious Portraits

From 2006 to 2007, Simms created a series of large portraits called Fugitive. These paintings were based on old photographs of people. The artist wanted to create a sense of mystery around these figures. An art writer, Martha Langford, explained that Simms creates "zones of ambiguity." This means her art makes you wonder and imagine.