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Amy Sillman

The title O & N refers to the couple Ohad Meromi, a sculptor, and Naomi Frye, a writer and editor; both are friends of the artist. Using brush and ink, Sillman drew them from life and then from memory, eventually shifting to printmaking. The figures become progressively more distilled and abstract, ending up as a barely recognizable echo of the couple’s initial likeness. The artist encountered many “intermediary struggles,” some yielding images “so ugly, it’s cool.” Sillman considers a number of proofs that include her hand-painted additions independent works of art; she has exhibited them as such.

Banner image: Detail, Pat Steir, Kweilin Dreaming 88, 1998, color woodcut with hand-painting and pen-and-ink drawing on silk mounted to paper, Crown Point Press, © Pat Steir

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