His paintings have been shown both nationally and internationally, including prestigious venues such as The National Portrait Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Cornerhouse, Manchester and The House of Commons. Simpson works primarily in oil paint to create realistic images that utilise the conventions of cinematography to present ‘staged', fictitious scenes where time has been stopped and extended. These frozen moments are deliberately ambiguous, inviting the viewer to inject their own emotions, motivations and narrative context into the scene, thereby avoiding limiting interpretation.