Morgan Sims
Morgan Sims is an artist living and working in Philadelphia. He grew up in California and earned his BFA from the University of Washington, Seattle, before receiving his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He began his art career in Chicago before ultimately landing in Philadelphia. He currently exhibits with the gallery Bertrand Productions and has recently shown at Untitled Art Fair (Miami), Art on Paper (NYC), and Scope Art Fair (Miami).
Collect Bean: What is the kindest thing someone can tell you about your work?
Morgan Sims: They can say I’ve never seen anything like that.
Collect Bean: What role does color play in your practice?
Morgan Sims: I’ve been interested in color for a long time. I’ve mixed thousands of paint colors and worked with neon light and gases to play with light and reflective colors. I like colors that pop and combinations of colors reminiscent of moments you can’t quite pinpoint. Color is great, and that includes muted, barely colors as well.
Collect Bean: How do you balance your practice with your daily life?
Morgan Sims: Luckily, it is mostly combined in one. My studio is where I live. There are parts of my process that take a lot of time or successive days. I can squeeze in smaller tasks around bigger ones and then schedule the big tasks when I have days I know will be free from interruption. I have multiple projects going simultaneously, so I have flexibility on what I work on most of the time, which is good when other aspects of life get in the way or I am not feeling up to a particular task. There is always something to do.
Collect Bean: How do you see your artwork fitting into the larger art world or art history?
Morgan Sims: I am just one blip in a sea of artists. I am someone with a lot of creative interests, including music, and I have a range of subject matter that doesn’t necessarily stay put. I’m still grounded in formalist concepts and see myself in the same way most artists in history probably saw themselves. Questioning things, and their place.
Collect Bean: Do you have a saying that you live by?
Morgan Sims: Do what is satisfying.
Collect Bean: What is something that you do to stay focused?
Morgan Sims: Make lists.
