Memories of Qilin by Emily Xie

Memories of Qilin is a series of 1,024 images by Emily Xie, made entirely in code. Each one is a flowing form pieced together from patterned fragments, set on a ground that looks like aged paper. Xie drew on the patterns of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblocks and the movement of Chinese brushwork. The qilin of the title is a beast from East Asian folklore that stands for luck and prosperity. It never appears outright. The shapes hover near dragons, birds, waves or flames, and part of the pleasure is deciding what you see.

The series came out on Art Blocks Curated on March 21, 2022, as a Dutch auction that started at 5 ETH and dropped every five minutes. It sold out in under an hour at 0.75 ETH, and Xie pledged a quarter of the proceeds above 0.2 ETH to charity. The script is stored on Ethereum and adapts a Verlet physics engine that David Lu helped her set up. Xie has said the series plays down traits on purpose, and she has asked collectors to let their imagination run free.

The record sales came in November 2022, when three Vermilion Bird outputs sold on the same day, the highest of them #191 for 55.55 ETH. Sotheby's has offered the series twice. Karlie Kloss picked #694 for a Contemporary Curated sale in 2024, and #1010 sold online that summer. Xie says the Museum of Art + Light in Manhattan, Kansas, took #453 into its permanent collection when it opened in 2024. Each new owner can also order one signed print of their piece.