“Gothic Passage with Sedilia”
Carving stone is no small feat, but artist Matthew Simmonds makes it look effortless. Within hunks of Carrara marble and limestone, he unearths ornate interiors complete with sturdy Doric columns and graceful archways. The formal aspects—the exacting angles, visual balance, and details—stand in sharp contrast to the coarse, uneven edges in which they’re contained. The juxtaposition evokes the feeling that these places are hidden or otherwise obscured, making us imagine we’ve encountered (or rediscovered) a special place.
Simmonds has had a lifelong fascination with chipping rock, and he honed his sculptural skills while working as an architectural stone carver. His pieces center on sacred spaces, such as cathedrals, and he applies that same reverence to their formal qualities. Simmonds’ 2025 piece titled Gothic Passage with Sedilia highlights this idea. “This sculpture explores in a purposefully simple way a balance of symmetry and asymmetry,” he writes, “and of interior and exterior space, as a passage moves up through the stone between two repeating worlds on either side.” At once, the design is a celebration of perfection and imperfection, showing how one doesn’t exist without the other.
Scroll down to see a selection of Simmonds’ latest works—a small part of his over 20-year oeuvre. For more, read our 2021 coverage of him.
Within hunks of Carrara marble and limestone, artist Matthew Simmonds unearths ornate interiors complete with sturdy Doric columns and graceful archways.
“Gothic Passage with Sedilia”
“Proscaenium”
The formal aspects—the exacting angles, visual balance, and details—stand in sharp contrast to the coarse, uneven edges in which they’re contained.
“Arezzo”
“Firenze”
The juxtaposition evokes the feeling that these places are hidden or otherwise obscured, making us imagine we’ve encountered (or rediscovered) a special place.
“Siena”
“Pisa”
“That Which Remains”
“Window II”
“Chapter House V”
“Essay in Baroque Space IV”
“Lonja”
“Rotunda III”
“Rotunda IV’