VERONICA PENOYER
Staff Writer
“The problem with art, Andy, is that no one needs it,” said Andrew Simmons, an Earth-based artist with a dark side, as he reflected on the advice his grandmother so kindly gave to him years ago.
The Visiting Artist Program hosted a ceramics artist this past Thursday, April 2. Andrew Simmons kept the crowd of art students intrigued — even though he came with a slide show presentation of roughly 500 slides — with his witty nature and exceedingly great taste in glitter as he spoke of his journey in the art business.
Born in 1978, Simmons was raised in Cincinnati, where he later went to school at Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
During his time at Ohio State University, Simmons worked on functional pottery where everything was salt fired. Growing up in a house full of functional pottery made it an intuitive decision for Simmons to start working with pottery. But Simmons wasn’t the only pottery-maker in his life; his father made pottery, as did his father’s friends.
“When working with clay, it can get frustrating, and it usually sucks most of the time,” said Simmons.
Simmons spent most of his undergraduate years buried in clay. He switched his focus and quit making functional pottery, though, after he created a “self-portrait” that opened his eyes to the reasons he became a dark artist.
His move to New York City was one that many artists make. The Big Apple is a wide-open canvas through which artists can indulge in the creations that happen daily.
Unlike children who grow up in the the city with trust funds, as he joked throughout the night, Simmons worked his way through paying rent.
“Anybody who is in school wondering what they are going to do next, I would humbly suggest moving to the city,” Simmons said. “It is probably the most exciting place in the world for an artist to be. There’s always money to be made in expensive places.”
As a struggling artist, money can be tight. The inspiration to create something brilliant isn’t always there, and that is why Simmons had a side job as a rickshaw driver. He obtained a rusted and broken rickshaw bike and rebuilt it from the ground up.
“You’re essentially going fishing for money,” said Simmons when reminiscing on his early days of scraping together money.
While in New York City, Simmons found himself taking on little jobs here and there. He worked as a studio assistant making life size Buddhas and delivering them every day to the same restaurant. In addition to Buddha sculptures, he also spent a significant amount of time creating ice sculptures.
After the first studio assistant job, Simmons obtained another, one that would make a profound influence on his life. He worked for James and David Kleinreid at a porcelain shop, where his skills in making molds were put to use; however, the repetitive aspects of making work for others didn’t suit him.
“At some point you have to stop being a studio assistant,” said Simmons. “It’ll make you go crazy doing other peoples work rather than your own.”
Throughout his time spent in New York City, nothing was comparable to the work he created in graduate school. Going back to school allowed him to make work of his own again, which meant working with glitter.
“Glitter is like the holy light emanating from my saints,” said Simmons. “Glitter makes my pieces off the hook shiny. They looked like they descended from heaven.”
Although his pieces covered in glitter are miraculous, his latest work, titled “Cure,” is his darkest and most relatable to the public. These sculptures consist of people with halos. The sculptures themselves may not be what draws one’s eye; it is the halos made out of everyday objects, such as drugs, children’s toys and coffee cans. These halos represent the human cure of sadness. Simmons took his idea even further, putting on display oxycontin medicine containers with razor blades, symbolizing a habit of self-harm.
Though all of Simmons’ work is unique, and each has a message to itself, nothing is as fun to him as drawing in his sketchbook. He uses books that already have text in them and draws on top with glitter glue, crayons and pastels. Most look like kid drawings but influence him to create series.
Among some of his influences are his professors and co-workers like Mary Jo Bole and Quinne Huling, his former professors.
Even though attendance at each Visiting Artist lecture is mandatory, art students seemingly enjoy what the artists have to say. The Visiting Artist Program provides art students with the exposure to a variety of art and design professionals from around the country. Each lecture informs students about the many directions, options and possibilities inherent in art and design from the perspective of professionals who are working regionally, nationally and internationally.