Mary Simpson was born in Anchorage, Alaska and currently lives in New York. She received an MFA from Columbia University and attended the Whitney Independent Study Program. Her paintings have long alluded to mythologies of ancient and contemporary culture, referencing human and natural forms through poetic abstractions. Inspired by historical symbolism and legend, she interweaves narrative with explorations of light, color and time—visually reinterpreting the “parody” of allegory. Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, her work began to address the unsettling political climate by focusing on themes of strength in the face of adversity.
“The allegorist arrives at symbol through intuition. She tends toward the mythological and psychological resonance of a landscape, a ruin, a surface.” - Mary Simpson