Art21 : About the artist Maya Lin

"I feel I exist on the boundaries. Somewhere between science and art, art and architecture, public and private, east and west. I am always trying to find a balance between those opposing forces, finding the place where opposites meet." - Maya Lin

      Maya Lin was born on October 5, 1959 in Athens, Ohio. Her parents migrated to America from China, but never considered herself "Chinese" as a child. As Maya got older she connected with her Chinese heritage and helped to create MOCA, the Museum of Chinese in America. Maya attended Yale and Harvard, With a Master’s Degree her art focuses on architecture and connecting mankind to the environment.

 Maya Lin's art mainly focuses on science vs art. She creates pieces that represent the land, water and people. In her work you will find that her genre can be defined as Land art, minimalism and post-minimalism. At age 21 while still an undergraduate, Lin won a public design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which stands to this day. She has a passion for architecture and her Chinese heritage. Some architectural pieces she has worked on are the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Civil Rights Memorial and the Museum of Chinese in America.

Above are three works of art by Maya Lin. From left to right, "Above and Below" located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, "Wave Field" located in the University of Michigan, and "Eclipsed Time" located in Penn Station.

Maya spends her days now in her art studio located in NYC and with her husband and two daughters.

"Apocolypse Noir" By Ariana Maldonado 

Late 18th century and 19th century

     In the Video we see works from the late 18th century and 19th century where artist begin to use Impressionism and Post impressionism. Below and two examples of each type of art and how they differ.

 

     Impressionism is a late 18th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. Around 1874 artist switched to Impressionist painting where they turned to portray contemporary life in their work. Impressionism painting depicts what the eye sees rather than what the mind knows.

 

Poppy Fields near Argenteuil by Claude Monet, 1875

In the painting Poppy Fields near Argenteuil by Claude Monet, done oil on canvas in 1875 we see here a realistic depiction of a worker in a poppy field. The colors Monet uses are true to nature, muted and soft. With natural colors the painting gives a calming feeling. The clouds are soft with a hint of sun light, showing how the artist depicted true to life clouds in this piece.

Post-impressionism is the style of art used in the late 19th-century. They reacted against the naturalism of the impressionists to explore color, line, and form, and the emotional response of the artist. Post-impressionism is a free interpretation of nature where an artist tries not paint a picture as we see things but to see through them to a significance in a reality deeper than what superficial reality gave.

 

 Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Cypresses was painted in late June 1889, shortly after Van Gogh began his yearlong stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. The subject, which he found "beautiful as regards lines and proportions, like an Egyptian obelisk," both captivated and challenged the artist: "It’s the dark patch in a sun-drenched landscape, but it’s one of the most interesting dark notes, the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine." This painting done oil on canvas, uses the contrast of light and dark to draw your eye to the tall curvy trees. Van Gogh's work uses rhythm and thick lines to show movement in the trees and tall grass. This paiting is different from the Impressionistic work due to the curvy lines used and symbolic gestures used to describe the moon and clouds around it.

Met Museum

 

Venus and the Lute Player by Titian and Workshop (renaissance)

 

 

In the painting above, Venus and the Lute Player by Titan, we see a late renaissance period painting. We can tell this is a renaissance piece by the use of religious pieces such as the crown and lute player. The curtain is a vibrant color that frames the scene. The figure is painted in a mannerism style, which incorporates a sophisticated, elegant pose and gestures. This scene depicts a Lute player playing for Venus and her son Cupid while in her home overlooking the mountain top while some sort of religious ritual is going on in the forest. This is oil on canvas created around 1565–70.

The bottom drawing was taken directly from the painting located at the MET.

Elements & Principles of Art- Intro to Renaissance & Baroque

      You can find a sense of unity in all art from any time period, whether it be a symmetrical balance (where the art is almost perfectly symmetrical in color or shapes) or asymmetrical balance, (where two sides of the art are not the same, but balance can be found using color or shapes) artist can use color and figures to join together a message in any piece you see. One way an artist unifies their work can be with Directional force. This is when an artist uses implied or psychic lines to draw the viewer’s eyes around an artwork.

 

     In this painting titled Venus and Cupid by Lorenzo Lotto the artist uses psychic line to draw your eye by using Venus’ hand gesture toward Cupid, and back with Cupids gaze toward his mother Venus. The colors red (on top) and blue (on bottom) are drastically different but balance out the painting by drawing your eyes to the center, where cupid and his mother are occupied. The objects also draw the eye all around the painting using implied line. Implied line refers to the trail that the viewer's eye takes as it follows shapes, colors, and forms along any given path.

     In art asymmetrical balance can be achieved in a painting with opposite colors from the color wheel or by arranging objects so that there is a sense of balance. In The Love Song by Sir Edward Burne-Jones this artist not only uses lights and darks but also emotion to balance the piece together. The figure on the left side of the painting conveys a sense of sadness or longing by his expression and the color used in his clothing, while the figure on the right conveys a sense of calm and tranquility by the facial and body expressions. The main focal point of this painting is the instrument player, which ties both sides of the artwork together.

     Scale can be used in an artwork to prioritize a figure over others regardless of realistic proportions. By using scale an artist can change the focal point in a painting to an object that is usually small and meaningless. In Dorothea Tanning 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' the sunflower is exaggerated to create emotion and inspire imagination. If this painting was realistic, it would lose its dramatic and magical feel.