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Sculpture (MA)

C J Simpson

The artist C J Simpson standing with his three cement sculptures in a concrete bunker.

C J Simpson was born in Hannover, Germany, into a working working class, Scottish family.

He grew up in the south of England moving to London in 2003 to begin a career as a lead makeup artist, working for luxury fashion brands, Dior, Dolce e Gabana, Armani, Blue Marine, he worked on concerts, weddings, celebrities, photoshoots and ad campaigns, catwalks, trunk shows, travelling across the UK, Europe and the USA.

When he wasn't painting faces he was painting portraits and nudes before deciding to retire from the industry to focus on expanding his repertoire as an artist.

Degree Details

School of Arts & HumanitiesSculpture (MA)RCA2023 at Truman Brewery

Truman Brewery, F Block, Ground, first and second floors

An oil painting of red drapery on a black background.

We are all wrapped in cloth from the moment we are born until the day we die.

We have a very personal relationship to it, it’s performative; we use it to identify ourselves, our religions, our jobs and even nationalities. It is loaded with symbolism and metaphors that I often explore through my work in a more deconstructed, defamiliarized way.

​Vestiges are the signs that something has passed - a tangible reminder in a fragment or remnant of what has been and gone. My work captures these traces, suggesting the memories of past events that have left scars in the landscape of the psyche, creating work haunted by loss or tragedy.

These traces defiantly remain against the impossibility of any return, a resilience of presence demanding expression, the persistent energy of unconscious and creative repetition. They are visual echoes, recorded in the meticulous refinement of the objects made and intense labour of craft, honed through shaping, painting, sanding, scraping, moulding and casting.

​Sculptures appear to envelop and solidify around something that has long departed - the airy centre suspended like an inhaled breath. The sanded, marble-smooth surfaces reminiscent of renaissance iconography, bringing the spiritual to mind? 

​There is movement and grace in the work. The surfaces and folds are as significant as what lies within when reading it, playing with what is hidden, revealed, and turned inside out. The use of monochrome focuses attention on a tension between form and abstraction, evident in enigmatic shape and specificity of material.  


A partly polished small bronze sculpture.
AMATO, 2023. – Bronze. 27x19x15cm I began this sculpture in December after hearing of the loss of a very dear friend and artist/archivist in Italy. I wanted to create something to honour him and remind me always of our dear friendship. Amato in Italian translates as beloved. It is my first bronze and I cherish all the knowledge past to me by our Foundry technicians, it has begun a whole new approach to my work.

Medium:

Bronze

Size:

27x 19x15cm
Three standing sculptures of bed sheet escape ropes in a concrete bunker.
PETRIFIED HOPE, 2023. – Wood, Linen, cement. 300x45cm 250x45cm 120x45cm
A small white cement sculpture against a white background.
AMATO, 2023. – Plaster cast. 27x19x15cm.
Three white billowing cement sculptures, human sized and standing in a churchyard flower bed in bloom.
CHARITES, 2022. – CATCH YOUR BREATH The London Group and Invited Artists St John's Churchyard, Waterloo. 3 - 30 July 2022
A small white cement sculpture on a wooden stand against a white brick wall.
CLETA, 2022. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso. 60x30x30cm
A small white cement sculpture on a wooden stand against a white brick wall.
PAIDA, 2022. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso. 60x30x30cm
A small white cement sculpture on a wooden stand against a white brick wall.
CLETA, 2022. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso. 60x30x30cm
A small white cement sculpture on a wooden stand against a white brick wall.
PAREGOROS, 2022. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso. 60x30x30cm
A small white cement sculpture on an Iron stand against a white brick wall.
HEGEMONY, 2022. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso. 60x30x30cm
Two small bird like carcass sculptures made of cement, hanging in front of a white brick wall.
GALLUS GALLUS DOMESTICUS, 2021. – Wood, aluminium, cement, gesso, lacquer.
A standing white cement, figurative sculpture against a white wall.
HOODWINKED, 2021. – Wood, aluminium, cement. 163x45x45cm
A white cement floor based sculpture in a gallery.
THALIA, 2020. – Aluminium, cement. 100x100x85cm
A plaster sculpture draped over a wooden rectangular frame, hung on a white brick wall.
NUDE, 2017. – Wood, aluminium, plaster, gesso, oil paint. 156x100x60cm
A large floor based sculpture beside a small white sculpture in the corner of a room.
VESTIGES – VESTIGES An exhibition of sculptural work by Ali Darke and CJ Simpson hARTslane 17 Harts Lane SE14 5UP NEW CROSS GATE London 14 - 17 April 2022.
A group of white sculptures against a white brick wall.
VESTIGES – VESTIGES An exhibition of sculptural work by Ali Darke and CJ Simpson hARTslane 17 Harts Lane SE14 5UP NEW CROSS GATE London 14 - 17 April 2022.
A small white cement sculpture against a white background.
EUTHYMIA, 2020. – Wood, aluminium. cement, gesso.
A white standing cement sculpture on a city rooftop.
EUPHROSYNE, 2020. – Aluminium, cement. 163x45x45cm
A white standing cement sculpture on a city rooftop.
AGLAIA, 2020. – Wood, aluminium, cement. 120x100x50cm.
A large grey cement drapery sculpture on a cobbled street in Italy.
ABBRACCIO, 2019. – Aluminium, cement. 120x75x60cm.
A 2000 year old sculpture of a Roman emperor wrapped in white lycra.
THE GOOD EMPEROR. – Intervention in white lycra. Italy. C-type print.
A 2000 year old dedicatory altar wrapped in Lycra.
CAIO MARIO. – Intervention in white lycra. Italy. C-type print.
A small red sculpture against a white background.
HOODWINK,2023. – Driftwood, aluminium, cement, gesso, paint, varnish. 45x30x30cm
A small red sculpture against a white background.
LYMPET, 2023. – Driftwood, aluminium, cement, gesso, paint, varnish. 50x45x30cm
A small red sculpture against a white background.
SCUPPER,2023. – Driftwood, aluminium, cement, gesso, paint, varnish. 65x45x45cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
PARTING, 2023. – Oil on Linen. 100x60cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
CURTSY, 2023. – Oil on linen. 120x45cm.
A red and black drapery oil painting.
LOOK UP, 2023. – Oil on Linen. 150x100cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
RIGHT THIGH, 2023. – Oil on linen. 60x50cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
STATE OF UNDRESS, 2023. – Oil on linen. 60x50cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
ON YOUR KNEES, 2023. – Oil on linen.
Red and black drapery oil painting.
JUDITH & HOLOPHERNES, 2023. – Oil on linen. 60x50cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
OFF THE RIGHT, 2020. – Oil on canvas. 40x30cm
Red and black drapery oil painting.
FRANCESCO, 2023. – Oil on canvas. 50x50cm
A red and black drapery oil painting.
RED RIDING HOOD, 2023. – Oil on canvas. 200x120cm.
A red translucent fabric sculpture occupying a window in a 14th century Italian palazzo.
LA FINESTRA DI PAGANO, 2020. – Intervention in red. Italy. Wood, aluminium, spray paint. 120x90cm
A red seat sculpture with a performance artist in a red outfit doing a Butoh dance.
MEMORIAL FOR A MEMORIAL, 2022. – RCA FESTUS collaboration Barbara Hepworth plinth, Battersea Park. July 2022. Artists, C J Simpson, Francesca Dobbe, Annie Trevorah, Yunpeng Wang, Jasmin Saya Young, Shiyao Liu, Edre, Mai Butoh.
A poster with an image of a tall wooden spiral structure in front of The Albert Hall.
FESTUS 2023. – RCA Student collaboration.
A red sculpture on the lawn of a churchyard with people enjoying the sunshine.
ALLARME ROSSO IV, 2018. – Steel, Aluminium, plaster, gesso, acrylic, spray paint. 180x120cm
Red tulle pouring down a mountain top in Italy.
MONTE PRATO, 2017. – Red Tulle intervention.
Red tulle wrapping a roman cistern covered by a glass pyramid, in front of a convent in Italy.
CISTERNO, 2017. – Red tulle intervention.
Red tull tied to burnt trees on a hillside in Italy.
ST. STEFANO, 2017. – Red tulle intervention.
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Royal College of Art

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