Travel by Theme > SENDING A MESSAGE > 3 of 9

Born in 1949 in Long Island, New York, Laurie Simmons lives in New York City. About her work Simmons says, "The big question for me is, why did my work start where it started? That’s a question I find really difficult to answer. Once it started, once I got into it, the direction became very obvious." ¹

• What do you see here? Do you recognize anything in this image? Why or why not?

Sending a Message
In addition to Walking House other female-object combinations Simmons has created and photographed include a cake woman (Walking Cake), a purse woman (Walking Purse), and an hourglass woman (Walking Hourglass).

• What do you think about Simmons’ decisions to combine these objects with women’s legs? Would you look at Walking House differently if the legs seemed to belong to a man? Why or why not?

• Do you think it matters that the only body parts we see are legs? Would your views of the work change if you could see a head above the house? Why or why not?

1. Laurie Simmons, interview by Sarah Charlesworth, in Laurie Simmons, ed. William S. Batman and Rodney Sappington. (New York: Art Resources Transfer, Inc., 1994), 10.