Artist, Lorna Simpson: Photography becomes this archive that can be reused, bring new meanings, and it can fuel ideas.
My name is Lorna Simpson and I am an artist.
In looking at, like, auctions and eBay, I bought this collection of photographs from 1957. This is someone picturing themselves as an actress—like a pinup, like a model, part of this Los Angeles-Hollywood imaginary world.
I pinned all these original images up on the wall, and then I said to myself, “Oh, what would be interesting is if there were doppelganger.” So I would have either an assistant or have my daughter help me to imitate her. They have different poses and facial expressions and shots that are repeated. As you look at them, you’re seeing these repetitions but then some of the repetitions are me.
The thing that it definitely screams is that these are a construction and a narrative, but in response to the world of image making in 1957 Los Angeles. There are a very limited amount of actors that are Black that are actually part of this world. And what it meant to desire that was fascinating to me.
I can sociologically say what the climate was at that time, but this leap of fantasy is also just as interesting as the realities. These images—they are a form of resistance—of being in the world and being seen.