Sky Scrolls

Made in the autumn of 1959 while Lijn lived in Paris.

Sky Scrolls are the first works Lijn made in a series. They were influenced by her interest in Chinese horizontal scrolls and her love and fascination with the sky. 

The ancient silk scrolls depict vast landscapes in which humans and their habitations are compressed to a cosmic scale, whereas her scrolls are drawings of transmogrified cloud worlds and flying creatures of the imagination.

Stone Clouds
1959
59 x 82 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, India ink on paper

Sky Scroll I
1959
78 x 153.5 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, India ink on paper.

Sky Scroll II
1959
78 x 153.5 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, India ink on paper.

Sky Beings
1961
41.5 x 81.2 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, India ink on paper.

Dark World
1959
62.7 x 155.7 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, India ink on paper

Blood Sky
1960
44 x 72 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, india ink.

Floating World
1959
101 x 155 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, india ink.

Cloud City
1959
70 x 154.7 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, india ink.

Heavenly Mt. Meru
1959
86 x 99 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, india ink.

Floating in Blood Heaven
1960
63.5 x 155 cm
Crayola wax crayons, gouache, india ink.

Image Credit: © Lewis Ronald 2021, Stephen Weiss