Matt Simms '91
ARTIST STATEMENT
Matt has used Montana clay and minerals to lay out the path of water over land. The first river platter is one in a series depicting the Big Blackfoot drainage and its tributaries, from its headwaters above Lincoln to its confluence with the Clark Fork near Missoula. While the other platter does not come from a series, it represents the Beaverhead River upstream of Dillon, Montana.
What art classes did you take while at Crossroads? Ironically, I stopped taking art after 10th grade, just as the Sam Francis Gallery was being completed. Biology and running, became my things at Crossroads. Early in my freshman year in college, running away from my first genetics class, I rediscovered my love for making art and never looked back.
How did Crossroads help to shape or influence you as an artist? Crossroads instilled in me a passion for learning and the understanding that following creativity in whatever form you choose is always the best path. Individualism and acceptance, in my mind, are the gifts Crossroads gives to all students, along with the belief that anything positive is possible.
Matt Simms '91
Above Lincoln, 2021
Soda fired porcelain
17" x 2"x 8"
$225
This platter was part of a series of the entire Big Blackfoot River and its tributaries. It shows the path of the river above Lincoln, Montana. Lincoln was the home of Ted Kazinski, the Unabomber, and the Blackfoot was the river fished by the MaClean family from "A River Runs Through It. "
Matt Simms '91
Beaverhead River, 2016
Wood fired stoneware
11" x 31.5" x 9"
$175
This is a small stoneware platter of the Beaverhead River in Southwest Montana. It was fired for eight days in an anagama kiln using only wood as fuel.