PERSONAL LIFE
• Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She is the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• Maya Lin, a Chinese American, was born in Athens, Ohio.
• Her parents immigrated to the United States from People's Republic of China in 1949 and settled in Ohio in 1958, one year before Maya Lin was born.
• Her father, Henry Huan Lin, was a ceramist and former dean of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts.
• She is the niece of Lin Huiyin, who is said to be the first female architect in China.
• Lin studied at Yale University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1986.
• She has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, Harvard University, Williams College, and Smith College.
PERSONAL LIFE (CONTINUED)
• She was among the youngest in Yale University when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987.
• She is married to Daniel Wolf, a New York photography dealer.
• They have two daughters, India and Rachel.
• Lin, having grown up as an Asian minority, has said that she "didn't even realize" she was Chinese until later in life, and that it was not until her 30s that she had a desire to understand her cultural background.
• Commenting on her design of a new home for the Museum of Chinese in America near New York City's Chinatown, Lin attached a personal significance to the project being a Chinese-related project because she wanted her two daughters to "know that part of their heritage."
How has her life impacted her art work
VIETN
AM VET
ERANS
MEMORIAL 1
982
Two
black
gra
nite w
alls
, pla
ced b
elow
gra
de, e
ngrave
d in
chro
nolog
ical
ord
er w
ith th
e nam
es o
f the
men
and
wom
en w
ho gav
e th
eir l
ives
in th
e Vie
tnam
War
.
VIETN
AM VET
ERANS
MEMORIAL 1
982
At the
apex
wher
e th
e tw
o w
alls
mee
t, th
e dat
es 1
959 and
1973 (mar
king th
e beg
innin
g and e
nd of t
he w
ar) "
mee
t"
thus
clos
ing th
e ci
rcle
of t
he tim
e sp
an o
f the
war
.
VIETN
AM VET
ERANS
MEMORIAL 1
982
A retu
rnin
g vet
eran
can
find h
is o
r her
ow
n tim
e upon
the
wal
l, m
akin
g eac
h one'
s ex
perie
nce o
f the
mem
oria
l ver
y
perso
nal a
nd indiv
idual
.
VIETN
AM VET
ERANS
MEMORIAL 1
982
The
sitin
g of t
he pie
ce is
dire
ctly
rela
ted to
the
prese
nce
of b
oth th
e Li
ncoln
Mon
umen
t and W
ashin
gton M
emor
ial,
tyin
g it p
hysic
ally
and h
isto
rical
ly to
the
site
.
INPU
T 2004
Since
May
a Li
n was
bor
n and ra
ised
in A
then
s an
d bot
h of
her p
aren
ts w
ere
profe
ssor
s at
Ohio
Univ
ersi
ty, a
n
artw
ork
for t
he Univ
ersi
ty h
olds
a per
sonal
his
tory
and
connec
tion fo
r her
.
INPU
T 2004
The
place
men
t of t
he te
xt is
bas
ed u
pon re
ctan
gular "
punch c
ards"
set i
nto th
e ea
rth. A
s a
junio
r and s
enio
r in h
igh s
choo
l, th
e ar
tist
studie
d Cob
alt a
nd For
tran
com
puter l
anguag
e at
the
Univer
sity
,
spen
ding m
any
hours
pro
gram
min
g at t
he Clip
pinger
Lab
s.
INPU
T 2004
Her m
emor
y of
the
hours
spen
t punch
ing o
ut thos
e dat
a
input c
ards
at O
hio U
niver
sity
has
led to
the
over
all s
hape
of th
is p
iece
.
ABOVE AND B
ELOW
2007
The
form
is b
ased
on th
e to
pogra
phy of
the
undergro
und
river
sys
tem
, the
White
Riv
er, w
hich fl
ows
under th
e st
ate
of In
diana
and is
the
seco
nd longes
t under
ground ri
ver
syst
em in
the
countr
y.
STYLE AND GROWTH
• Maya Lin has maintained a careful balance between art and architecture throughout her career, creating a remarkable body of work that includes large-scale site-specific installations, intimate studio artworks, architectural works and memorials.
• Landscape is the context and the source of inspiration for Maya Lin's art.
• She peers curiously at the landscape through a twenty-first century lens, changing the way we look at things.
• Utilizing technological methods to study and visualize the natural world, Maya Lin takes micro and macro views of the earth, sonar resonance scans, aerial and satellite mapping devices and translates that information into sculptures, drawings and environmental installations.
• Her works address how we relate and respond to the environment, and presents new ways of looking at the world around us.
STYLE AND GROWTH (CONTINUED)
• From recent environmental works such as Storm King Wavefield, Where the Land Meets the Sea and Eleven Minute Line to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where she cut open the land and polished its edges to create a history embedded in the earth, Maya Lin has consistently explored how we experience the landscape.
• She has made works that merge completely with the terrain, blurring the boundaries between two- and three-dimensional space and set up a systematic ordering of the land tied to history, language, and time.
• Many people criticized the stark, black monument, but today the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most famous monuments in the United States.
• Throughout her career, Maya Lin has continued to create powerful designs using simple shapes, natural materials, and Asian themes.
Is her work really art , what was your reaction to her work when you first saw it, did it change your understanding of art
QUESTION ONE
Which of these is Maya Lins best known sculpture around the world today?
a) Vietnam Veterans Memorial
b) Civil Rights Memorial
c) The Wave Field
d) Input
ANSWER TO QUESTION ONE
Which of these is Maya Lins best known sculpture around the world today?
a) Vietnam Veterans Memorial
b) Civil Rights Memorial
c) The Wave Field
d) Input
QUESTION THREE
What did the Vietnam Veterans Memorial display?
a) Names of the men and women who gave their lives in the Vietnam War.
b) Names of Maya Lin’s children.
c) Names of successful leaders that made Vietnam what it is today.