Jesse Ray Sims

Kentuckian Jesse Ray Sims is an award-winning visual artist who began his career as an architectural draftsman and in manufacturing. Working from his studio in Horse Cave, Kentucky; Sims meticulously creates in paint and colored pencil, mostly rural scenes of isolation, abandonment and decay with a focus on his passion for science, design and physics. He documents rural sites in south central Kentucky with a focus on the ever-changing karst topography. His goal is to show the vital connections between science, math and art while developing new ways to explore, discover and record the landscape around him. Diagnosed early in life with epilepsy, Sims shares his sense of control, reflection and the scars of time’s passage in his work. He has won the Professional Assistance Award through the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Program. He exhibits in solo and invitational exhibitions and his work is featured in several private and corporate collections. Inspired by his wife, an area educator, Sims hosts workshops and residencies in model rocket building which includes successfully launching and flying them. In 2016 he moved into a larger space which has a full service frame shop, classroom and great painting space as well as a sculpture area. He is working on several painting and sculpture projects.

“http://www.youtube.co/watch’/v=M6Bf5yJSSNA”:http://www.youtube.co/watch’/v=M6Bf5yJSSNA

This bio/description was originally published in 2015 and updated in 2016. For more current information, please refer to the award recipient's website (if provided).