My first encounter with Nancy Graves was through her paintings—specifically her lyrical, color silkscreens from the late 1980s. I am just as puzzled as you are by this body of work. Reading your reflection on these pieces led me to think that it is not the artist who is difficult, as her "reputation" might suggest, but the work itself. If difficult means that the work challenges, questions, and intrigues the viewer, then perhaps difficulty is something to be celebrated.