Cuttings

1961

95 x 65 x 4.1 cm

Sawn cut perspex, white paint.

Cuttings were a development of Lijn’s first experiments with clear acrylic, Fire Lines. In these early works with plastic, Lijn used fire to draw with molten plastic and, noticing that the fine lines cast shadows which changed position when looked at from another angle, she began to research the interactions between light and what we see. Cuttings represent her first attempt to generate an energetic vibration through the use of repetitive elements.

Cuttings are negative reliefs. The slices of saw-blade cuts made in a clear Perspex sheet are perceived as solid relief casting shadows on the back surface of the sheet, whereas the solid uncut area of the sheet is perceived as empty. The original concern of these early works was the interchangeability of opposites, i.e. that negative and positive were so close as to be indistinguishable.