[1] Through her work she has created a highly personal visual language which she uses to explore themes of subjecthood, storytelling, life, death, aging and tension.
[1] Williamson's works are often intertextual with her references ranging from popular culture to objects she finds lying around her studio.
In her work she is unafraid to reference and draw on art history, specifically finding inspiration from artists such as "Goya, Manet, Duchamp, Luc Tuymans and Philip Guston over the years".
Around 2006 Williamson found herself in a creative rut, and so she took a hiatus from painting and began a collaborative effort with Sheila Heti.
With this work, Williamson constructed a fiction out of documentary footage consisting primarily of reality-based interviews and scenarios set up between her friends and neighbors.
[10] Williamson took on the role of director for this film, and in doing so she left the comfort zone of her studio and began an exploration into filmmaking.
The movie was produced by Julia Rosenberg of January Films, the photography and images were done by Lee Towndrow and the music was by Steve Kado.
In order to focus and work on the paintings which would eventually be featured in the book, Williamson moved to the Yukon for an extended period of time.
The "exhibition" included 46 paintings, most of which are oil on wood and featured "still lifes, heads, hands, torsos and prone figures".
Williamson describes her work style as switching back and forth between “craving” isolation and “longstanding conversation with amazing people”.
[14] She says she enjoys being far away from cultural centers because of the opportunity it provides for a big picture view of the interconnections between works across mediums.
[6] In order to work on the paintings which were featured in the book Williamson moved to the Yukon for an extended period of time.
Williamson spent eight weeks in the Anne Lind Studio, where she studied and examined concepts including, “avoidance, conflict, compromise and the notion of establishing a sense of place".
During her residency, one of the works Williamson created was “How to Act in Real Life” a new and still on-going performance art series.
Another piece of work Williamson showcased was a series of “real art of tv”, called “Back to the World”.
Partner in Art, gave the money to the National Gallery of Canada, which went towards the Shary Boyle who was involved in the Venice Biennale 2013.
[17] To celebrate this Williamson along with two other artists, Luis Jacob and Suzy Lake were commissioned to produce short films that commemorated Partners in Art.