Art. Lorna Simpson Explores the Beauty and Complexity of Black Hair.

Lorna Simpson


New York-based artist Lorna Simpson has always employed a variety of mediums, from performance to photography, to explore the theme of identity.

The beauty and complexity of black hair often features prominently in her work. In an exclusive series for Vogue, Simpson incorporates images of women from advertisements that ran in issues of Ebony magazine in the 60’s and 70’s. She pairs women’s pictures with geological and astrological forms from a 1931 textbook. While the end result is almost mystical, Simpson simply says of her choice to combine these two types of images: “I thought they were beautiful.”


Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson