Simmons’ layered compositions, distinct for their neon-coloured palette and balance of acrylic, oil, airbrush and wax, slip between figuration and abstraction, specificity and ambiguity. Citing music, found photographs on eBay, and viral video clips as inspiration, the artist takes impulsive samples, riffs and remixes that coalesce in his organic and all-over dynamic works. Taking account of sentimental passing moments, the artist celebrates the ephemerality of casual intimacy with vibrancy and spontaneity, admiring the works of historical portrait painters like John Singer Sargent to contemporaries like Jennifer Packer. The figures in Simmons’ paintings appear like spectres in limbo, referential though detached from an individual likeness, much like Simmons’ work overall, which recalls universal themes of youthful play, human nature, work and rest.
In this specific body of work, the artist speaks to the universality of the Hero’s Journey, and the cyclical nature of storytelling: beginnings, endings, and beginnings again. Moments of failure, temptation, redemption, and transformation populate his compositions—highlighting the very ubiquitous nature of the monomyth and bringing into question the traditions of portraiture and the pageantry of masculinity. Often, Simmons’ strategically crops the scene, foregrounding instead the sensation and physical presence of the depicted moment. In They Playin Our Song (2023), the viewer is positioned as though in the throngs of a middle school moshpit; equally tangible is the discomfort and uneasiness of the figure in Where’s My Hug At? (2023). Simmons’ work is perhaps most profound when portraying quiet moments of solitude; compositions like Black in February (2023) and Inés (A Visit From the Muses) (2023) open slowly to the viewer, revealing a generous warmth for his subjects. Simmons’ is equally careful not to divulge too much, permitting instead an emotional resonance that echoes in quiet whispers to those who take the time to listen.