Amy Sillman

In the series Election Drawings, black stick figures are depicted against an empty white background. The figures lie curled on the floor: sometimes crouching, sometimes in bed, sometimes vomiting, sometimes only half of them remaining visible. The charcoal lines are robust, but also rough. The series of 23 charcoal drawings on paper was created in 2016 in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory.

The figure drawings derive from abstract drawings in which Sillman employed horizontal and vertical lines inspired by protest signs. Sillman began the series with an interest in expressing emotions in imagery, creating a series of angry drawings.

The resulting figures are furious, sad, desperate, yet funny; a testament to Sillman’s sense of humor, which is repeatedly apparent and is at times ironic and awkward. The artist uses humor to comment on facts while simultaneously perceiving situations anew, stating: “We would die if we no longer had humor. That would be total submission.”