At once figurative, decorative, narrative and abstract, the work of Amy Sillman resists easy classification. Sillman's gestural use of paint fits into the abstract expressionist tradition, while the sketchy, linear figures that sometimes populate her paintings - such as the binocular-equipped figure in Birdwatcher - follow in the tradition established by Willem Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, and the California School of figurative painting. Her work also freely references sources as varied as Indian miniature painting, Surrealism, Italian frescoes, and folk art. At the heart of her work is a familiarity and love of painting. The use of pastel color and thick impasto is surprising and refreshing, and the artists' quirky sense of humor is prevalent throughout.
Not simply studies for her larger paintings, Sillman's work on paper complement her paintings by allowing the viewer to realize the primacy of drawing in her body of work. Sillman's method of working, though it may be seen as haphazard at first, offers as much to decipher as the imagery she uses. As seen in Untitled, the artist repeatedly works over her surfaces, juxtaposing opacity and translucence by applying filmy gesso over bright colors and collaged paper. These mixed techniques and Sillman's fleetingly recognizable imagery work together to engage with the process as well as the history of painting.

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