Striped Heads presents a figure in black and white chequered clothing, with five vertically striped heads, standing alongside a kneeling nude female figure who appears to be juggling twelve heads. The presentation of multiple heads in this circular formation was highly unusual in Sikand's work. The figures seem to be in a dream-like setting, although a tree is present on the left of the painting, and a yellow-orange sun may be identified. In 1992, Sikand explained her non-naturalistic depiction of the human figure, stating, 'My work attempts to explore images and concepts from Hindu religious mythology through painting and drawing. My attention currently focuses on the guises adopted by the multi-headed, many-limbed beings from Hinduism'.

In this painting Sikand establishes a complex set of relations between two standing figures and the chequered hillscape in which they are positioned, while on the right, a large staring face seems to hover above the ground, providing a sense of the uncanny. Sikand's composition points to her interest in Paul Klee's modernist landscape paintings from the 1920s, which are made up of shape and colour. In 1985, Sikand explained, 'My work is about contrast: contrasts of colour and of design; of patterned areas with flat areas; of positive and negative, creative and destructive forces'.

The bust of a woman dominates the centre of this painting. Her chin is tilted to the right, and as she gazes upwards beyond the frame, she seems preoccupied with her own thoughts. To her left, a smaller disembodied head looks at her. Despite the strangeness of this scenario, Sikand has created a sense of serenity in her figures, which is contrasted with the busy, chequered landscape and geometric cityscape behind them. Here, intuition and empathy are prioritised over rationality and reason, perhaps reflecting Sikand's interest in cosmic energies and the creation of magical worlds. As such, Cityscape, may also manifest Sikand's interest in the vibrant and topsy-turvy worlds depicted by Marc Chagall during the 1920s.

In 1994, Sikand painted several works, including Figure and Head, which set an enlarged disembodied head alongside a female figure who appears in contemplation. In this painting, the upside-down, chalky-white floating head, which may be a mask, is unsettling; it not only seemingly interrupts the woman's meditative moment, but it also upsets the tonal harmony of the painting. Here, Sikand has created a dissonant, surreal image that recalls the work of Paul Nash. During the 1930s Nash was interested in how ancient English sites such as the White Horse of Avebury and Stonehenge were endowed with power beyond conscious comprehension. Here Sikand's white mask perhaps exists as a primeval relic or totem.

To the right of Untitled II, is a woman dressed in a red and blue chequered dress. Placed within a non-distinct, hazy landscape, it is possible that the figures to her left are manifestations of her imagination: a translucently rendered five-headed woman stands supporting a smaller, scaled, female figure who appears to be standing on the belly of a third figure, who is lying on the woman's lap. Sikand's simplified, often androgynous human forms have been linked to her interest in the figurative artistic traditions of the female Mithila artists of rural Bihar, India. Here Sikand seems to be meditating on the many roles undertaken by women across the globe, and how identities exist within a constant state of flux and metamorphosis.

In Landscape with Woman and Trees a nude, seated woman is positioned between a cluster of trees and a large, floating head. This painting has been interpreted through references to depictions of Buddha achieving enlightenment while seated under a tree, as well as depictions of Hindu deities in eighteenth-century Indian Kalighat painting. But in 1995, Sikand explained that she used those references as starting points, and that 'Although the figures are important, it’s the space they inhabit in the landscape and how to make the whole painting work that also matters now'. Sikand's interest in objects and people in relation, set in still landscapes may reflect her interest in Paul Nash's work from the 1930s and 1940s.

From September 1993 to April 1994 Gurminder Sikand was an artist in residence at the University of Nottingham, which culminated in a solo exhibition in the University gallery titled 'Wonderings in Paint' 9 April – 6 May 1994. The Doll was painted during this period and was included in that show. Sikand's exhibition coincided with a display of etchings by Paula Rego, and arguably this curatorial pairing helps contextualise Sikand's work through feminist approaches to figurative painting, and an interest in childhood and psychoanalysis. Rego was renowned for her works exploring interpersonal dynamics, and in this painting Sikand presents a complex portrait of the self and its other, while an unknown force looks on from behind a tree in the distance.