A for Elm

1996

24.9 x 8.8 cm base diameter, 1.2 cm apex diameter, turntable 5.7 x 11.5 cm diameter

Letraset and vinyl transfers, gouache on turned mahogany cone, electric motor.

Text derived from The White Goddess, Robert Graves, Faber.

In these text works Lijn wants words to be interchangeable with colour.

In A for Elm Lijn uses five colours with the five ancient Godelic tree names, which are interchangeable with the five names of the goddess, and the five transitions in her life.

Whether Lijn works with a poet’s words or her own text, she wants the words to float into the viewers mind in continually changing sequences. Meaning, like a river, is always in flux.

Photograph by Stephen Weiss