Laurie Simmons

Walking Cake, 1989

domestic eccentricity

interview by GLENN O’BRIEN
portrait by SANDY KIM

All images courtesy of Salon 94, New York

 

Laurie Simmons is a photographer and filmmaker, one of what Prince — the musician, not the artist — might have called the “new power generation” of women artists. She is also identified with the “Pictures Generation” of artists exploring the role of imagery in an era of mass media. Her photographic work started with dollhouse pictures. She created tableaux using dolls and dollhouses, toy cowboys, dummies, and props, resulting in microcosms of commentary on domestic roles, situations and stereotypes. In 2001, with the architect Peter Wheelwright, she created her own ideal dollhouse decorated with miniature art and furniture provided by contemporary artists and designers. In 2009 she began a series called The Love Doll featuring a state-of-the-art adult doll from Japan. It was classic…