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Born 1959 Athens, Ohio
Sketches for 'Groundswell', 1997
(click image for larger view) |
Much is made of the power of art to heal and change, but in reality, such expectations are rarely more than empty dreams. One exception, of course, is the work of Maya Lin. Her Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1980) has been central to the mending of our nation's wounds after the most divisive conflict since the Civil War. Such a controversial, precedent-shattering debut could have overwhelmed a lesser spirit, but Lin has continued to follow her personal path, undeterred by her own past or the expectations of others. Whether she is participating in shared experiences (Civil Rights Memorial, Montgomery, Alabama, 1989; The Women's Table, Yale University, New Haven, 1993) or realizing private visions (The Wave Field, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1995; Eclipsed Time, Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1994; Groundswell, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 1993), Lin has continued to produce work characterized by intellectual rigor, elegance of design and sheer gutsiness of concept and scale.
In addition to her public, site-specific art, Lin's work has been the subject of a major retrospective, Public/Private (1993) at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, and it has been featured in numerous other exhibitions, including Extended Minimalism (1996) at the Max Protech Gallery, New York; Critical Mass (1994) at Yale University, New Haven; Ornament (1992) at the John Post Lee Gallery, New York; Working with Wax (1991) at the Tibor di Nagy Gallery, New York; 60s to 80s Sculpture Parallels (1988) at the Sidney Janis Gallery, New York; and Avant-Garde in the Eighties (1987) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Among her architectural projects are the Museum for African Art, New York; the Rosa Esman Gallery, New York; and private residences in Williamstown, Massachusetts; Santa Monica, California; Litchfield, Connecticut; and New York City.
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