Maya Lin is an artist with a passion to make her work mean something. She was born in Athens, Ohio, 1959. Both of her parents were immigrants from China with creative backgrounds and they worked at the Ohio University. With such an upbringing it is no wonder why Maya grew to be a prestigious artist who has an eye for design and the want to make a difference.
Maya is most widely known for her Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. which commemorates those who fought and died for our country. She designed it while she was a student at Yale University which may be why it doesn’t look like a conventional memorial or monument. She brought a modern and honest design that may seem stark but that is what makes it so breathtaking.
Maya is also a strong environmental activist who is using her work as a way to talk about important topics such as climate change. Pieces like this she has done specifically focus on bodies of water and their importance. Also another interesting concept Lin introduces through this exhibition’s title is that rivers themselves can actually be classified as drawings which is an interesting line of thought considering what is classified as a drawing. A river is really just the remnant of how water has eroded soil and left a mark on the landscape which can be effectively classified as a line made with mark making. This piece she made was created with many recycled glass marbles that come together to form the Hudson River running all throughout the space.
As previously stated Maya likes to focus on climate change in her work. She likes to focus on water and is fascinated with its ever-changing state and the role it plays in history. With pieces like this she compares the original sizes of glaciers and their current shrunk form. Its like bringing geological topography maps to the fluid state of water. When she makes pieces like this the plan is usually put into a computer program and then printed by a 3-D printer. This method is how she is blending technical architectural practices with that of the art world to end up creating something that is beautiful with a strong message.
This piece entitled “Flow” is Lin’s interesting depiction of water’s fluid movement crafted from a rigid medium of wooded blocks. The result is a beautiful composition that draws the eye to slide over its lines of movement. With the wave’s tilted angles it makes viewers feel like a chunk of the ocean has been frozen in time and stowed away.
Overall, Maya Lin is one of our nation’s most inspirational and important artists. She has a mission and purpose behind her art. Not only that, she also is innovating the art world and how we look at how nature and its honest life can fuel beautiful works of art that say something. Lin is starting a conversation in a unique way through the use of art that may open people’s minds that previous ways haven’t before. Either way her work inspires, from her great stone memorial to her fragile glass marble river her work will forever be in people’s minds and maybe even leave a lasting impression on how they view the world.