Ross Simonini is all in with art and life. He uses every possible body part to write, draw and paint. His gestural marks and fields of color are applied with pencils and paint brushes operated by hands, toes, knees and elbows. By using all four limbs when working, the artist’s “hand” is metaphorically, and literally, obscured to produce imagery that allows space for the hidden unconscious to appear.
Simonini’s first step is choosing a simple refrain for each painting. He then begins repeatedly writing this verse hundreds of times, over and over again, onto canvas, muslin, or paper with all parts of his body. The simple phrase comes undone through sheer repetition until its legibility disintegrates completely. Words and language disappear, coalescing into representations of what the artist considers beings.
To add depth and vitality to the beings and their realms, Simonini uses milk paint, an ancient and natural medium used in frescos and created with olive oil, fossilized sea shells, pine resin, flax oil, beeswax, raw pigments and salt. Just as milk animates and sparks our own developing bodies, the milk paint animates and fuels his characters and scenes. In solidarity, and as an act of private performance, the artist sometimes ingests a small amount of milk prior to working in order to bridge the gap between the maker and the work.
All of Simonini’s beings signify and relate to an understanding of the world through animism– a universal concept that every single thing is alive and animated. The confounding narratives that drift into focus in Simonini’s paintings include nature spirits, trees, animals, and water as well as elements of the man-made world: homes, phones, towns, and people. It’s a grand vision, and Simonini sees and feels the life inside everything, even the inanimate objects we take for granted. His artistic vision contains an abundance of being for us to enjoy and dip into; it’s a gift.
Ross Simonini is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. He has exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial 13 (UAE), anonymous Gallery (NYC), Et Al Gallery (SF), Shoot the Lobster (Luxembourg), Jack Hanley Gallery (NYC), and Human Resources (LA).
