Amy Sillman illustrates the evolution of her work in latest show

Sikkema & Jenkins Co. in Chelsea is featuring a collection of work by Amy Sillman for the show Stuff Change. The works in this show include drawings and paintings that revolve around the idea of the process of a working of art evolving or becoming something new entirely. Sillman encourages the viewer to see her paintings as works in that are changing rather than as a finished product.

She does this by creating drawings on printed canvas and paints on the top to blur the distinctions between handmade and digitally modified creations. Sillman is intrigued by the idea of stoffwechsel (the German word for “metabolism”) where something changes from one form to another. “I would call it a metabolism: the intimate and discomforting process of things changing as they go awry, [as they] look uncomfortable, have to be confronted, repaired, or risked, i.e. trying to figure something out while doing it,” she explains.

Untitled April Drawing 4, Version 2 by Amy Sillman

Notable works in the show include Rome which features an object resembling a kettle of boiling water in the center with steam coming out with a curved shape situated on top, and placed directly below the handle. Other intriguing works include Blue Legs which features two peg-legged structures, one black, viewed from out of a window with a blue backdrop, and Untitled April Drawing 4 which depicts an abstract animal resembling a hippo with its head turned and wearing colorful business attire.

Sillman earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and an MFA from Bard College in upstate New York. She has received numerous awards and her work is part of many permanent collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She currently splits her time between New York and Germany where she is Professor of Painting at Frankfurt’s Städelschule.

At Sikkema & Jenkins Co. 530 W. 22nd St., through Mar. 12. The gallery is open Tues.-Sat. from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.