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.