Carolina QuotesIn art, I get to walk into my head and do whatever I want to do, to free up completely. That goes back to my roots in Athens, Ohio, my roots in nature and my feelings of connections to the environment, that everything is coalesced around being inspired by the natural world and reflecting that beauty out to others.
Maya Lin Connected to the Carolinas
Source
"The Private World of the Public Artist Maya Lin" in Smithsonian Magazine (22 December 2022.
- year
- 2022
Cite this record
“In art, I get to walk into my head and do whatever I want to…” Maya Lin. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-E65B5F52B5. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/e65b5f52b5
More from Maya Lin
I try to understand the "why" of a project before it's a "what." And this might be more pertinent to some of my memorial projects. Memorials are a hybrid between art and architecture because they have a function.
If you ever tried to analyze its shape, it's one of the most complex forms. Think about it, it's every compound curve. There's nothing symmetrical about it. It's about looking at something again and then appreciating it. I mean, nature, is so complex.
It’s a bit unusual, as you said, to be working between the architecture, the art, and what I would say is a synthesis, the memorials—they’re problem solving, but it’s very symbolic. You get this triangle; I need to be balanced with those three. They’re all equally a part of who I am. I love how different they are, and yet they’re coming out the same thing, whatever it is.