By Noma Faingold

Artist Rose B. Simpson is more than a little preoccupied with vessels. She views pottery, cars, her figurative sculptures, the womb and clay – a material she most often uses in her creations – as vessels.

“I think in clay. Clay was the earth that grew our food, was the house we lived in, was the pottery we ate out of and prayed with,” Simpson told a de Young Museum audience at a very personal lecture she delivered earlier this year. “My relationship to clay is ancestral and it has a deep genetic memory. It’s like a family member for us.”

Coming from a long line of Native American ceramic artists of the Santa Clara Pueblo (Kha’po’oe Ówîngeh), based just south of Española, New Mexico, pottery is in Simpson’s DNA. While she still lives at the pueblo and has her studio close by, she has forged a different creative path, while examining the past, present and future.

Her installation titled, “LEXICON,” which will be on view starting Aug. 30, in de Young’s Wilsey Court, is comprised of three parts:

“Bosque”

A 1964 Buick Riviera, making its debut at the de Young, has been meticulously rebuilt by Simpson and painted in vibrant Tewa polychrome. She named the piece “Bosque” (Spanish word for forest). Simpson made this second customized car into a lowrider, since Española is considered the lowrider capital of the world.

In 2018, Simpson earned an Automotive Science Certificate at Northern New Mexico College in Española with a goal of making sure she can drive her art cars.

Simpson took the Buick apart before transforming it. She found a working engine in Detroit. She did the metalwork, smoothing out dents and patching the numerous areas of rust. She researched Tewa polychrome (pottery featuring multiple colors, including terracotta and cream, applied to the surface using intricate designs and patterns). She even sewed the interior leather upholstery to match the exterior.  

“Maria”

The celebrated “Maria,” – which she modified and customized 10 years ago from a 1985 Chevy El Camino, painting a black-on-black geometric motif – was inspired by Tewa ceramicist Maria Martinez (1887-1980) of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico. Martinez popularized the distinct black gloss-and-matte contrasting patterns.

“Maria” is a hot rod Simpson occasionally drives. It has been exhibited in a few museums. 

“I transformed that car. How many times I sanded it, caressing every inch of that car,” Simpson said. “The car has a heartbeat.”

Mural

A massive, colorful mural, with an expansive geometric design, evokes the environment of the Southwest. It is not a landscape, however. It is a mixture of figurative and familiar symbols. 

“The aesthetics will provide a sense of space and place because they are very tied to her identity and where she’s from,” said Hillary C. Olcott, curator of Arts of the Americas for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF).

The mural will surround the two vehicles. It will be painted by Simpson and her team during the museum’s visiting hours, from Aug. 19-22. In other words, the public will have the rare opportunity to watch the work in progress.

The sad part is the site-specific mural will be painted over when the exhibition ends on Aug. 2, 2026.

“Rose is continuing her exploration in her practice of the vessel,” Olcott said. “The two cars are vessels. But she takes it one step further. The mural is inspired by pueblo pottery designs and Southwest aesthetics. Rose is intending to transform the Wilsey Court from a sort of void into a whole.”

Born in 1983, single mother Simpson was raised by matriarchal ceramic artists, including her mother, Roxanne Swentzell. Simpson learned by watching her DIY role model, who turned a toolshed into a house. Simpson remembers mixing mortar when she was a toddler for Swentzell to lay bricks in building their home.  

Simpson is best known for purposefully raw and imperfect clay sculptures, as well as working across multiple media, including metalwork, painting, fashion, installations and performance. Her sculptures have a post-apocalyptic “Road Warrior” vibe. They are often adorned with found objects like brake discs and other car parts. She has called some of the sculptures “beings” or “ancestors.”

Her work has been exhibited in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim, as well as the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Her multiple degrees include an MFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. This year, she received an honorary PhD from that same institution.

Reoccurring themes in her artwork examine identity, ancestry, gender, motherhood and marginality. She also looks inward, seeking personal growth through her creativity.

“I still like cars,” Simpson said, who bought her first at age 12.

“I’ve had a lot of cars in my life. I get emotionally attached to them,” she said. “I see opportunity. I see possibility. I see experience. I see beauty. I see cruising. I see connection. I see empowerment. I see being carried. I see being in a safe, beautiful, strong womb. I see an identity.”

Rose B. Simpson’s LEXICON installation runs Aug. 30 through Aug. 2, 2026, at the de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr. Sept. 13 will be a free opening celebration for LEXICON, as well as a day focused on the four reimagined Native American galleries. Future programming for LEXICON to be announced, including possibly partnering with the local lowrider community to stage a cruise around the Golden Gate Park music concourse next year. To learn more, go to famsf.org.