I think I'm still, in many ways, a terribly self-conscious person. I'd probably be shooting and think, "Well, how does my hair look?" Laurie Simmons More Quotes by Laurie Simmons More Quotes From Laurie Simmons Here were also moments of, you know, you have an exhibition: no sale, no reviews. It's hard not to get blue, and I think the kids were very aware of those periods. So if there's anything they've picked up, it's a kind of resiliency. That seems like a pretty good legacy. Laurie Simmons legacy kids thinking My father was a dentist. And my mother was a - do we still say "housewife"? A home engineer. Laurie Simmons mother home father I think the big news there - most post-menopausal women I know are not celibate. Laurie Simmons thinking I remember years ago hearing a gynecologist say, "Women report a great sense of calm and well-being post-menopause." This was way before I was even thinking about it, but I thought, "Hmm, that might be something to look forward to. A sense of well-being!" Laurie Simmons calm remember thinking I feel like I've finally got to this place that I really want to be. The place where, in my fantasy, the characters just get up and walk around - this interstitial place between humans and dolls. But I also feel like, where am I supposed to go from here? Because this feels like the place I've always wanted to be, for my whole life of shooting. Laurie Simmons whole-life fantasy character When you're getting ready, you finally reach a point where your clothes are right and your hair and makeup are right, and you're not comparing yourself to anyone. It's a really great moment. Then you get to the party and it's like, "Oh my god, I'm wearing the wrong thing! I'm garish!" or "I'm underdressed!" Laurie Simmons makeup party moments I think making features has got to be in the addiction category. Laurie Simmons categories addiction thinking You mine your own past in order to get to know yourself. Laurie Simmons know-yourself order past I feel like an artist often turns the camera on themselves and on their own families to understand who they are. Laurie Simmons turns cameras artist The thing that a lot of people may or may not know is every artist is a cinephile, whether they watch movies whether they're painting, or have films that influence them. Laurie Simmons artist watches people Oh god, success is so exhausting. Laurie Simmons exhausting We don't have real hours and we don't have a boss, so artists create rules for themselves that they then break. It's transgressive in such a personal way. Laurie Simmons rules boss real way When I was in art school, there was a stigma attached to coming from comfortable suburbia. If you were from Great Neck, Long Island, you couldn't be a 'real artist', so I found crafty ways of implying that I was from New York. Laurie Simmons great you long art I'm innately conservative, and painting is an ideal place to exercise a progressive conservatism. I operate well within limits. Laurie Simmons place painting limits exercise My favourite thing is to discover what someone does well and say, 'Do that for me.' Laurie Simmons well say someone me I love acting. I can't believe how fun it is and how in-the-zone I am when I'm doing it. Laurie Simmons i-am fun love believe It's funny: when you're an artist, your own work goes in and out of fashion with you. Laurie Simmons you fashion work funny When I had my first show at Artists Space in 1979, I imagined my life like game show. There were two doors: one door had a big dollar sign on it, and the other just had sort of a blurry picture of a newspaper - the money door or the critical response and acclaim door. Laurie Simmons my-life game money life Who knew that being an artist was a glamour job? Laurie Simmons job being glamour artist My career has been a slow burn with many peaks and valleys. Laurie Simmons slow burn career valleys