This week’s Studio Sunday featured artist is Amy Sillman. Sillman’s artistic practice encompasses drawing, collage, video, and even zine-making, but the artist is best known as a painter. Sillman’s paintings are often compared to abstract expressionism in aesthetic, but Sillman herself has stated that she’s spent a lot of time learning about such styles in order to critique and move past them in her own work.

I think that this artist has a beautiful studio space – it looks incredibly airy and open, all the better to fit the artist’s large canvases. The canvases against the wall appear to be propped up on egg crates – I wonder if that’s how Sillman usually positions her works while she’s painting, or if this is only for display.

I find that the pastel tones of Sillman’s paintings in this photo add a nice welcoming atmosphere to the studio overall. This seems like a space where work is done calmly, with both a sense of play and an eye for fine detail. Even the chair that Sillman is leaning against seems to reflect a pastel aesthetic and looks like the type of chair that one would sit in while lounging or reading outdoors.

The supply table to the right of the artist holds a few full-sized cans of paint, brushes, and a range of other common painting supplies. The studio itself seems relatively minimal, which to me probably indicates that Sillman spends most of her time focused intently on the fine details of her work, perfecting the smallest lines and brush marks to create each masterpiece.

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1955, Amy Sillman worked at a variety of jobs both art-related and otherwise before graduating from the School of Visual Arts. Sillman’s artworks occasionally include humorous references, cartoons, and nods to pop-culture.

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