Liliane Lijn

Pioneering artist Liliane Lijn talks to John Wilson about her formative cultural influences. A leading figure in the development of kinetic sculptures in the 1960s, she is renowned for her use of light and movement, creating sculptures and installations that draw inspiration from quantum physics and astronomy. She has worked with scientists at the CERN nuclear research laboratory and the Space Science Laboratory at Berkely University, and her art has involved spinning texts, plastic prisms and conical sculptures that emit light. Liliane Lijn’s work is held in museums and galleries around the world, including MOMA in New York, and the V & a. In 2025 she was the subject of a major retrospective show at Tate St Ives. She has recently published a memoir Liquid Reflections, which shares its name with one of her best known artworks.

Producer: Edwina Pitman