Dream Machine

Rose B. Simpson, Kha'p'o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo) / American, born 1983
Santa Clara Pueblo (Kha P'o)
Southwest

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2016

Ceramic, steel, leather, and rope

Overall: 61 15/16 × 21 15/16 × 18 in. (157.4 × 55.8 × 45.7 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Contemporary Art Fund

© Rose B. Simpson

2019.5a-f

Geography

Place Made: Santa Clara Pueblo, United States, North America

Period

21st century

Object Name

Sculpture

Research Area

Native American

Native American: Southwest

Sculpture

Not on view

Label

Crowned with a black-on-black ceramic and steel helicopter, Dream Machine stands resolutely. The helicopter equips this otherwise human figure with the ability to fly, with the potential for navigation, observation, or escape. Rose B. Simpson’s warrior figures are unconstrained by gendered expectations and stereotypes. Dream Machine is a warrior without weapons, shielded with armor and self-sufficiency, bound with leather, rope, and the knowledge of their ancestors.

Simpson regularly incorporates found materials into her ceramic practice, which draws on her diverse skill set including training in automotive science. This human-mechanical hybrid figure also reflects the recurring theme of post-apocalyptic life in her work.

From the 2021 exhibition Form & Relation: Contemporary Native Ceramics, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art and Morgan E. Freeman, DAMLI Native American Art Fellow

Course History

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2020

ANTH 11/NAS 11, Ancient Native Americans, Madeleine McLeester, Fall 2020

PORT 8, Brazilian Portraits, Carlos Cortez Minchillo, Winter 2021

LACS 22.11, Latinx Intergenerational Literature, Marcela di Blasi, Spring 2021

SART 20/SART 71, Drawing II/III, Oona Gardner, Fall 2021

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Winter 2022

WGSS 16.01, Contemporary Issues in Feminism, Mingwei Huang, Spring 2021

Exhibition History

Form & Relation: Contemporary Native Ceramics, Citrin Family, Engles Family, and Harteveldt Family Galleries, and Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery Stair, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 6, 2021–July 23, 2022.

Publication History

"Rose B. Simpson: Mixed Media Sculptures," Mud Season Review 26, December 20, 2016.

Provenance

Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico; sold to present collection, 2019.

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