KIM SIMONSSON

The ceramic sculptor Kim Simonsson works figuratively, animating a mythic cast of characters. Typically, his stoneware and porcelain figures take the form of anarchic and self-reliant children immersed in the textures of the natural world; outfitted in moss, foliage, branches, flowers, and feathers, their glazed and nylon fiber surfaces radiate the vibrant, electric green of new growth on the forest floor. Other works, finished with an array of monochromes in blue, white, and gold, conjure the pure tones of the elements. 

The artist is particularly well-known for his series of Moss People, a tribal society of young people who have broken off from industrialized civilization to live in accord with nature. Grounded in Finnish folklore, post-apocalyptic film, and fairy tales, these sculptures evoke the prospect of freedom, wildness, and the fantastical reveries of childhood. As Simonsson puts it, “What I am trying to do in my art is to create something that is of an informal sublime beauty … I want to make work that is honest and true to my way of expressing myself.”

Simonsson is based between Fiskars and Helsinki, Finland. He received a master’s degree from the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki and has exhibited widely, including at the Ålands Konstmuseum, Mariehamn, Finland; the Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland; KWUM Karin Widnäs Museum, Fiskars, Finland; Musée d’Ansembourg, Liège, Belgium; MoCA Busan, South Korea; and the Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum, Turku, Finland. Simonsson is the recipient of the Pro Finlandia Prize, the Svenska Kulturfonden Prize, and the Walter Runeberg Foundation Award. His work is held in the collections of the Didrichsen Art Museum, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art Gifu, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, National Museum in. Oslo, Shigaraki Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Tampere Art Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.