Image

Brown clay bust of a figure with a grass and stick headdress. Diagonal lines of patterned patches of offwhite run across their chest and cover their face.
Another profile view of the bust. A black decorative line is drawn on the base of the bust’s side
Another side view of the bust, showing their patterned chest and face along with the headdress and off-white painted shoulder.
Side view of the bust, revealing that the headdress is composed of a bundle of sticks rising from behind the head. The sticks are placed into a narrow vessel attached to the head.
Another side view of the bust so that it is at a diagonal. The white patterned patches extend down the figure’s back from across their shoulder.
Profile view of the bust, but from the opposite side. There is a large patch of off-white paint on the figure’s shoulder.
The bust’s back. A line of textured white patches runs down the figure's spine. Two bundles of branches stick out from behind its head. The left shoulder is painted off-white.
A side view of the bust’s back on the other side. The sculpture is formed with light colored clay and is painted offwhite with textured striped patterning.
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 8 Next

Rose B. Simpson

Shard
Now On View

Description

Maker

Rose B. Simpson (Kha’p’o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo), b. 1983), (RISD MFA 2011, Ceramics)

Culture

Kha'p'o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo)

Title

Shard

Year

2021

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

66 x 29.2 x 20.3 cm (26 x 11 1/2 x 8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2021.40.2

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

Interpretation

A geometric pattern plays across the face of this figure, repeating on the body and the thin cylindrical forms jutting from the sides of its head. This pattern developed when Simpson recognized that the linoleum flooring in many modern Indigenous homes appears similar to shards of ceramics made by ancient ancestors from the homelands surrounding Santa Clara Pueblo, where she lives. Her substitution of linoleum for protected ancestral artifacts reflects the relationship in her sculptures between the historical past and living present of Native American people and culture.

Acquisition details

In addition to the ongoing project of reassessing the moral and ethical considerations of maintaining and displaying historical examples of Native American cultural objects as part of its collection, the RISD Museum is committed to acquiring the work of contemporary Native American artists. Recent works by Simpson, Jeffrey Gibson, and Courtney M. Leonard are on view in this gallery.

-Dominic Molon, Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Rose B. Simpson (Kha’p’o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo), b. 1983)
Shard, 2021
Ceramic, glaze, grout, linoleum, steel, copper wire, and epoxy
66 x 29.2 x 20.3 cm (26 x 11 1/2 x 8 inches)
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2021.40.2

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.