SIMPSON, Lorna

1994

wood box, felt, ceramic, rubber, bronze

box: 2 1/4in. x 13 3/4in. x 5 1/2in.

3 wishbones (same dimensions), 1 each made of ceramic, rubber and bronze; Norton Family Christmas Edition of 5,000; Lorna Simpson is best known for her photography, which often combines images of black women with text as a way to explore society's relationship with race, sex, and ethnicity. In this work, Simpson centers on the wishbone, a key of her artistic imagery. Drawing on the metaphorical meanings of the project's materials, Simpson used III as both an examination of and meditation on wishing. The set includes a wooden box filled with three contrasting wishbones, or "wishes," made from bronze, ceramic, and rubber. The bronze and rubber wishbones are unbreakably rigid. The ceramic wishbone was designed to be fragile, which was the artist's intention.

1994

SIMPSON, Lorna

United States, b. 1960

Gift of Phyllis Plous

1997.63