Maya Lin (American b. 1959), a Chinese-American artist, came from a cultivated and artistic home: her father was the Dean of Fine Arts at Ohio University, and her mother is a Professor of Literature at Ohio University. Lin remarks: “As the child of immigrants, you have that sense of ‘Where are you? Where’s home?’ And trying to make a home.”
Maya Lin draws inspiration for her sculpture and architecture from culturally diverse sources, including Japanese gardens, Hopewell Indian earthen mounds, and works by American earthworks artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most recognizable work, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, allows the names of those lost in combat to speak for themselves, connecting a tragedy that happened on foreign soil with the soil of America’s capital city, where it stands. Lin lives in New York and Colorado.
-bio from art21
CHECK OUT: Maya Lin’s Artist’s website
VIETNAM MEMORIAL
Lin entered the public eye when, as a senior at Yale University, she submitted the winning design in a national competition for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be built in Washington, DC.
She was 21 years old when her design was selected. At school, she trained as an artist and architect, and her sculptures, parks, monuments, and architectural projects are linked by her ideal of making a place for individuals within the landscape. The memorial was completed in 1982.
GHOST FOREST
LEARN: about Ghost Forest at the Madison Square Park Conservancy Exhibition Page
WATCH: this documentary on Ghost Forest:
Madison Square Park Conservancy Exhibition Page
READINGS:
Maya Lin Ghost Forest Review in NY Times
Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest Review in Dezeen
