The Scroll

work by Sikander

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Last updated

July 22, 2026

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The Scroll is a watercolor and gouache painting by Shahzia Sikander, measuring 5 feet long. It depicts a faceless figure moving through rooms in a family home, exploring themes of youthful restlessness and female freedom. This work is distinct from traditional East Asian scroll paintings, which are continuous lengths of paper or silk used for landscapes or narrative illustrations. It is also separate from the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, which are manuscripts discovered near the Dead Sea dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE.1234

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Shahzia Sikander
Education and The Scroll
…Sikander completed her thesis project, The Scroll, a 5-foot- (1.5-meter-) long watercolor and gouache painting on tea-stained wasli paper, a type of handmade paper invented in India and traditionally used for miniatures. In the panoramic painting, Sikander depicts herself as a ghostlike, faceless figure weaving in and out of the…
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…Sikander completed her thesis project, The Scroll, a 5-foot- (1.5-meter-) long watercolor and gouache painting on tea-stained wasli paper, a type of handmade paper invented in India and traditionally used for miniatures. In the panoramic painting, Sikander depicts herself as a ghostlike, faceless figure weaving in and out of the…
Read More