Lorna Simpson’s photograph ID is purposely puzzling. On one side, we see the back of a woman’s head, neck, and shoulders; on the other, we see a knot or braid of human hair. Two nearly identical words appear on plastic plaques below the two images. By juxtaposing intriguing visual images and carefully chosen words, the artist encourages the viewer to make sense of the relationship between text and photographs. This format is one that Simpson often uses in order to pose questions about the way society classifies and categorizes African-American women. By linking the word identify with the photograph of braided hair, Simpson may be noting the enormous significance of hair texture as a marker of race, both inside and outside African-American communities. The word identity underneath the more complete yet nevertheless enigmatic portrait challenges our attempts to know the complexities of a person through her physical traits alone. (K Hileman, Seeing Now, 20 Feb - 15 Mar 2011)