Lorna Simpson has been at the forefront of conceptual art for over 30 years, and in that time, she has expanded the confines of art history with deft investigations of race, gender, sexuality, class, and performance. Known for her extraordinary photo-text installations, photocollages, and films, Simpson is one of the most consistently innovative contemporary artists of our time. In anticipation of her show of large-scale paintings at Salon 94 in New York this September, we visited her Brooklyn studio, which was peppered with vintage Ebony magazines and several stunning works-in-progress. We discussed the nuances inherent in art that deals with identity, as well as the expansive possibilities for understanding gender and sexuality in the 21st century.