Work — Lorraine Simms

Shadowland Drawings

Drawings from this series were developed during two research residencies at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. These works represent the shadows cast by the skeletal remains of animals considered vulnerable, endangered or iconic. Mysterious shape-shifters, these ephemeral drawings connect with key environmental issues, such as habitat loss and the extinction of animal species. They propose a reflective space from which to consider the spiritual dimension of animals, our intertwined histories and future evolution. In these works animal archetypes seem to flicker and dance on the periphery of awareness, signalling the gradual disappearance of the wild.

Pteropus edulis, AMNH #44280, 2018
Graphite on paper, 76 x 56 cm

Elephas maximus, AMNH #39082, 2019
conté on black paper, 53 cm x 56 cm

Elephas maximus, AMNH # 39082, 2021
Graphite on paper, 229 cm x 114 cm

Hippo Amphibias, AMNH # 70019, 2021
Graphite on paper, 114 cm x 183 cm

Monodon monoceros, AMNH # 63987, 2021
Graphite on paper, 96.5 cm x 112.5 cm

Equus ferus, 2021
Graphite on paper, 112 cm x 99 cm

Odobenus rosmarus, AMNH #79901, 2021
Graphite on paper, 114 cm x 152 cm

Elaphurus Davidianus, AMNH # 189208, 2021
Graphite on paper, 224 x 102 cm

Ursus maritimus, AMHH #5031, 2021
Graphite on paper, 101.5 cm x 183 cm

Eubaleana glacialis, AMNH # 42752, 2019
(Right whale vertebra)
Conté on black paper, 127 cm x 98 cm

Panthera tigris 1, AMNH #135846, 2019
Graphite on paper, 69 cm x 61 cm

Panthera tigris, AMNH #135846, 2019
Graphite on paper, 69 cm x 61 cm

Cervus Canadensis, AMNH # 123051, 2019
Graphite on paper, 56 cm x 76 cm

Elephas maximus, AMNH #39082, 2019
Graphite on paper, 53 cm x 76 cm

Antilocapra Americana, 2020
Graphite on paper, 76 cm x 56 cm

Panthera tigris, AMNH # 135846, 2020
Graphite on paper, 76 cm x 59 cm

Panthera tigris, 2020
Graphite on paper, 76 cm x 57cm

Panthera tigris, AMNH #135846, 2021
Graphite on paper, 98.5 cm x 64 cm

Cervus Canadensis nelsoni 2, AMNH# 123050
2021, Graphite on paper, 76 cm x 57 cm

Cervus Canadensis nelsoni 1, AMNH# 123050
2021, Graphite on paper, 76 cm x 57 cm

Canis Lupus Alberta, AMNH 98230, 2019
Graphite on paper, 44.5 cm x 27.3 cm

Bison bison AMNH # 3758, 2019-21
Graphite on paper, 127 cm x 96.5

Balaenoptera acutorostrata, AMNH 181411, 2019
Graphite on paper, 96.5 x 127 cm

Ursus maritimus, AMNH #14057, 2019
Graphite on paper, 101.5 cm x 75 cm

Ursus maritimus, AMNH #14057, (Detail) 2019
Graphite on paper, 101.5 cm x 75 cm

Ursus maritimus. AMNH #22885, 2018
White conté on black paper, 76 x 56 cm

Ursus maritimus. AMNH #22885, (Detail) 2018
White conté on black paper, 76 x 56 cm

Hypsignatus monstrosus, AMNH #48653, 2018
Graphite on paper, 56 cm x 76 cm

Eubalaena glacialis, AMNH #42752, 2018
Graphite on paper, 120.6 cm x 158.7 cm

Canis Lupus, AMNH #98231, 2018
White conté on black paper, 61 x 51 cm

Ursus maritimus, AMNH #14057, 2018
Graphite on paper, 112 x 76 cm

Lepus arcticus , AMNH #42061, 2018
White conté on black paper, 112 x 76 cm

Lepus arcticus, AMNH #42061, (Detail) 2018
White conté on black paper, 112 x 76 cm

Phasianus colchicus , 2018
Graphite on paper, 124.5 x 218.5 cm

Phasianus colchicus , Detail
(Taxidermy, Version 2), 2018
graphite on paper, 124.5 x 218.5 cm

Shadowland Exhibitions

Shadowland at the Redpath
Redpath Museum of Natural History
Solo exhibition in situ, Montreal, 2023-2024

Eidolons, Solo exhibition
Oboro, Montreal 2022

Shadowland, Solo exhibition
Canadian Museum of Nature
Ottawa 2021 - 2022

Shadowland at the Redpath, Redpath Museum
Montreal, 2023-2024

Eidolons, Oboro, Montreal, 2022

Shadowland, CMN, Ottawa, 2021 - 2022

Shadowland, CMN, Ottawa, 2021 - 2022

Shadowland, CMN, Ottawa, 2021 - 2022

Paintings 2024

Requiem, 2024
oil on canvas, 142 × 117 cm (56” × 46”)

Double Portrait, 2024
oil on canvas, 152 × 145 cm (60” × 57”)

Tesselate, 2023
oil on canvas, 132 × 122 cm (52” × 48”)

Tracery, 2024
oil on linen, 112 × 117 cm (44” × 46”)

Double Strand, 2024
Oil on canvas, 76 × 76 cm

Collages

My collage practice is ongoing. Found images are juxtaposed with my own photographic references and further altered by passages of painting and drawing. These collages collapse boundaries, layering perceptions of space and form to create a discrete visual poetics.

2020, book page, inkjet print, gouache

2020, bookpage, injet print, gouache

2020, book page, inkjet print, gouache

2020, book page, gouache

2020, book page, inkjet print, gouache

Remix, 2017
Injet prints, magazine cut-outs, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Remix, 2017
Injet print, acrylic paint, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Remix, 2017
Injet print, magazine cut-outs, acrylic paint, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Remix, 2017
Injet prints, magazine cut-outs, acrylic paint, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Remix, 2017
Injet prints, acrylic paint, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Remix, 2017
Injet print, magazine cut-outs, acrylic paint, 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Paintings 2020-2023

Remix, 2020-24
Oil and textile on board, (Diptych) 35.5 × 56 cm

Remix 2, 2020-24,
Oil and textile on board, (Diptych) 35.5 × 56 cm

Black Flag, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 40 × 60 cm

Afterimage, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Fragments For a History of Collecting,
2020 Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Wasteland, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Bone House, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Reliquary, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Unnatural Order, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 51 x 81 cm

Tomb, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 35.5 x 56 cm

Detail, Tomb, 2020
Oil on board, 35.5 x 56 cm

Specimen, 2020
Oil on board, (Diptych) 51 x 81 cm

Double Negative, 2020
Oil on board, 61 cm x 76 cm

Techniques of the Observer, 2020
Oil on board, 35.5 x 56 cm

Paintings 2016-2018

Many of these paintings were shown in a solo exhibition, Little Deceptions, at Galerie Occurrence in 2017. These works consider the Disneyfication of reality portrayed by the ephemeral objects of our affections, plush animals. Exploring materiality, attraction, physicality and art historical tropes, these paintings evoke the packaging of nature and the commodification of our imaginations, becoming portraits of our culture and of ourselves.

Portrait Box 12, 2017
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 5, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 35.5 cm

Portrait Box 21, 2018
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 35.5 cm

Portrait Box 3, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 10, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 11, 2017
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Portrait Box 17, 2017
Oil on board, 35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 7, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 6, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 35.5 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence, Montréal

Portrait Box 1, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation View, Galerie Occurrence

Portrait Box 8, 2016
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Portrait Box 13, 2017
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 35.5 cm

Portrait Box 14, 2017
Oil on paper mounted on board
35.5 x 28 cm

Portrait Box 23, 2018
Oil on paper mounted on board
50.8 x 40.6 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Primary Plush, 2017
Oil on canvas, 175 x 142 cm

Le Jeu, 2016
Oil on canvas, 175 x 142 cm

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Messenger 1 & 2, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Messenger 1, 2016
Oil on canvas, 76 x 76 cm.

Messenger 2, 2016
Oil on canvas, 76 x 91.4 cm.

Little Deceptions, 2017
Installation view, Galerie Occurrence

Familiars 2015

The title of this series, Familiars, references the spirit guides or animal companions described in folklore dating back to the Middle Ages. I re-imagine these magical guides as enigmatic forms composed of bound, contorted plush toy animals. These animal guides, our familiars, enter a menacing and dark realm, a surreal mindscape where associations swirl and tumble. As in Grimm's stories, these altered creatures evoke the shadow side - anxiety and menace lurk behind their playful façades.

Ghost Riders, 2015
Oil on canvas, 152 x 145 cm.

Grimm, 2015
Oil on canvas, 152 x 145 cm

Nursery Rhymes, 2015
Oil on canvas, 152 x 147 cm

Hush, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 40.5 cm

Trance, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 35.5 cm

Constellation, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 33 cm

Tale Bearers, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 40.5 cm

Jumble, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 36.8 cm

Strange Companions, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 36.8 cm

Gulliver II, 2015
Oil on paper, 38 x 40.5 cm

Haunted By You, 2015
Oil on canvas, 183 x 229 cm

Familiars, 2015
Galerie d'art d'Outremont, Montréal

Sculpture

Toy animals provide the raw material for these sculptural forms. Bound into impossible relationships they morph into strange atavistic hybrid beings. These assemblages are inventions, or re-inventions, that reflect an imaginative process of transformation.

Twinning, 2015
Plush, faux fur, wire, polystyrene, paint, wood, 241 x 71 x 70 cm

Twinning (detail), 2015

Strange Beast, 2015
Plush, plaster, batting

Nuclear Family (detail)

Nuclear Family, 2015
Plush, faux fur, wire, polystyrene, paint, wood, 162.5 x 43 x 23 cm

Nuclear Family
(detail of installation), St. Bruno

Little Bear, 2015
Plush, faux fur, wire, polystyrene, paint, wood, 195 x 56 x 56 cm

Little Bear (detail), 2015

Romp & Bear Bomb, 2014

Rabbiting, (two views), 2016
Broken plaster ornaments, paint

Rabbiting, 2016
Broken plaster lawn ornaments, glue, paint

Romp (detail), 2014
Plush, faux fur, wood, 162.5 x 43 x 23 cm

Bear Bomb (detail), 2014
Plush, faux fur, wood, 155 x 30.5 x 38.25 cm

Tumblewood, 2014
Plush, branches, paint, 89 x 86.5 x 84 cm

Haunted By You

This exhibition, shown in the Flowers Gallery in 2014, evokes our complex relationship to animals and the natural world. Referencing popular culture and mythology, these paintings focus on details of tightly bound sculptural forms. I am interested in the physicality of their highly saturated colours and the psychological and visual tensions generated by their hybrid forms.

Haunted By You catalogue

Big Head 3, 2011
Oil on canvas, 153 x 122 cm

Big Head II, 2011
Oil on canvas, 152 x 122 cm

Haunted By You, 2014
Flowers Gallery, Montréal

Subliminal, 2014
Oil on canvas, 170 x 213.5 cm

Haunted By You, 2014
Flowers Gallery, Montréal

Double Bind, 2014
Oil on canvas, 147.5 x 152.5 cm

Haunted By You, 2014
Flowers Gallery, Montréal

Nyctophobia, 2014
Oil on paper, 38.5 x 38.5 cm

Sea Serpent, 2014
Oil on paper, 38.25 x 41 cm

Terrible Fish I, 2014
Oil on paper, 38.25 x 38.25 cm

Dark Turning, 2014
Oil on paper, 38.25 x 38.25 cm

Haunted By You, 2014
Flowers Gallery, Montréal

2010–2015

This series, Into the Wild, includes paintings on paper, board and canvas. It explores strange conceptions of animals. Twisted and tied together these plush toys become strange, haunted hybrids.

Bunny Nova 6, 2010
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm.

Bunny Nova 4, 2010
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm.

Bunny Nova 3, 2010
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm.

Bunny Nova 5, 2010
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm.

Bunny Nova 5, Detail

Plushies 1, 2010
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm

Plushies (grid detail)

Big Big Head, 2010
Oil on canvas, 175 x 142 cm

Residency, 2010
Warren G. Flowers Gallery, Montréal

Recombinant 1 & 2, 2011
Oil on board

Recombinant 1.2, 2011
Oil on board, 24.5 x 19.5 cm.

Recombinant 2.2, 2011
Oil on board, 24.5 x 19.5 cm

Recombinant 1, 2011
Oil on paper, 38 x 38 cm

Recombinant 1, Detail

Still Life 4, 2011
Oil on paper, 38 x 38 cm

Recombinant 2, 2011
Oil on paper, 38 x 38 cm

Still Life 3, 2011
Oil on paper, 38 x 28 cm

Toys + Age = Art, 2013
Installation view, dc3 art projects

Recombinant 4.1, 2011
Oil on paper on board, 18 x 30 cm

Recombinant 4.2, 2011
Oil on paper on board, 18 x 30 cm.

Still Life 7, 2011
Oil on paper on board, 19.5 x 19.5 cm

Still Life 5, 2012
Oil on paper on board, 19.5 x 19.5 cm

Toys + Age = Art, 2013
Installation view, dc3 art projects,

Animal, Installation
St. Bruno, 2015

Spectral 2010

This solo exhibition at the Anna Leonowens Gallery comprised 22 oil paintings on paper installed in order of the visible spectrum of light. These small, square paintings focus on details and explore the sensual possibilities of paint and light. Like specters they generate ideas connected to identity, transformation and the uncanny. Along with this painting installation I launched my artists' book "The Interview", that features a fictive interview with Michael Jackson after his memorial.

Spectral no. 19, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral, 2010, Installation view
Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS

Spectral no. 1, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 5, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 2, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 18, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 13, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 14, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 15, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 6, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 11, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 12, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 10, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral, installation detail
Anna Leonowens Gallery, 2010

Spectral no. 17, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral no. 21, 2010
Oil on paper, 15.25 x 15.25 cm.

Spectral, 2010, Installation view
Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS

The Interview, 2010
Artist Book

The Interview, 2010

The Interview, 2010
Artist Book

Spectral, Grid Installation, 2013
dc3 projects, Edmonton, AB

2008–2009

Paintings in The Looking Room feature people dressed in masks and costumes. These subjects allow me to engage with the interconnected themes of identity, ‘human nature’ and our relationship to the natural world.

Lacey in a Cat Suit, 2008, oil on canvas, 122 x 152 cm

Bunny Couple, 2008, oil on paper, 28 x 14 cm

Dog and Cat Couple, 2008, oil on paper, 28 x 14 cm

Bunny, 2008, oil on paper, 25 x 16 cm

Dearie, 2008, oil on paper, 28 x 14 cm

C is for Cat, 2009, oil on canvas, 152 x 147 cm

Self Portrait in a Black Wig, 2009, oil on canvas, 91.5 x 122 cm

Chicken, 2008, oil on canvas, 203 x 102 cm

Scary Panda, 2008, oil on paper, 16.5 x 13 cm

The Looking Room, 2009, oil on canvas, 175 x 142 cm

Self Portrait as a Clown, 2009, oil on canvas, 51 x 61 cm

2002–2008

Inspired by the spectacular beauty of covert photography these paintings explore the gulf between direct and technologically aided vision. This series is based on surveillance, infrared and motion detector photographs.

Deer 3 (Flashed), 2008
Oil on paper, 21.5 x 24 cm

Deer (Private Encounter), 2007
Oil on canvas, 168 x 107 cm.

Number Nine, 2007
Oil on canvas, 122 x 152 cm.

Frieze, Akau Gallery, Toronto

Spectacle, 2007
Oil on canvas, 168 x 175 cm.

Reversal, 2004, oil on canvas

Thief - Reflect, 2004, oil on canvas, 40” x 40”

Disappeared, 2004, oil on canvas

Trespass 1, 2004, oil on canvas

Twist, 2004, oil on canvas

Tricky, 2004, oil on canvas

Smoke, 2004, oil on canvas, 28” diameter

Vertigo, 2004, oil on canvas

La Foule, 2002, Galerie Expression, Ste Hyacinthe, Québec

Ashes, 2002, oil on canvas

La Foule, 2002, Galerie Expression, Ste Hyacinthe, Québec

Memento 1 & 2, 2003, oil on canvas

2004-2007

This series titled Fugitive is based on mug-shots of women wanted for fraud. Other than this tantalizing clue no further information is offered. The viewer is left to make assumptions based on appearances, and this of course is tricky, as women do not easily fit archetypes of the outlaw.