Miss al simpson • Artist Spotlight

Anna Louise Simpson’s digital collages explore hyper-consumerism in a kind of distorted futuristic urban landscape.

As a self-taught artist and now with a studio in Edinburgh, Anna Louise grew up watching vintage movies and drawing from fashion magazines and books.

Drawing on influences such as Kippenberger and Rauschenberg, Anna Louise uses found items such as billposters and magazines to build up a textured mixed media surface, in order to explore themes of confused popular culture. Layering her work with power and fragility; tales of passion and desire are exposed.

At times, these stories are gentle whispers, at other times, they are loud and brash graffiti. Fragmented portraits hidden in urban landscapes reveal an honesty and broken reality; a mixed up version of the popular culture that submerges us all.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I draw inspiration from a huge amount of popular culture, whether it is from printed magazines, digital advertising or social media. The fact that so many people are visually aware and becoming creative with whatever tools they have (camera phone, Ipad or pencil and paper) is inspirational. So many artists influence me. I love the power of text based work of Jenny Holzer and the rawness of materials used in Robert Rauschenberg’s art. I also love Richard Prince’s chilling Nurses and the abstract expressionism of Clifford Still. Finally, I adore the aggressive graffiti style of Basquiat — he has always been an inspiration.

What do you think of traditional artwork?

I think that traditional artwork is still very tied to the traditional art market, which can be quite nepotistic and at times, sexist. Digital art has the power to cut through the old paradigm and create a whole new shift which will offer many more people the chance to become collectors and artists. The game changer is that the old gallery system, which has traditionally held the keys to the kingdom, is not longer in charge of how art is viewed or disseminated. We can upload our art online with the click of a button and and it can be viewed by hundreds, possibly thousands of people, internationally.

What got you in to Crypto art?

I was completely blown away by the power of the blockchain, so wanted to explore turning my whole art practice digital. I definitely think that crypto art is the zeitgeist, as it feels like a completely new art movement. I think that it has the power to support a lot more artists than the tradition art market and that is very exciting.

Do you think your art is fulfilling a purpose?

Yes, I do, as I am now a full-time crypto artist. My art tells my story in many different ways and that feels good. I make art in order to have a voice and express myself. I love to have the figure as the central element in a lot of my work, as I believe that we are all trying to explore our own humanity. I also like to explore some of the more dystopic elements of our society — shine a light on some of these issues. We need more diverse voices in the art world. It feels good to be appreciated as an crypto artist in my own right.

Final question, what’s next for you as an artist?

I would like to create my own gallery in CryptoVoxels and have a digital art exhibition. I would also like to encourage many more people, including women and mothers, to join this exciting new art movement.