Maya Lin

American sculptor and architect (born 1959) · United States · Artists

Maya Lin is read about 300 times a day, in 28 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

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Maya Ying Lin is an American architect, designer, and sculptor. Born in Athens, Ohio, to Chinese immigrants, she attended Yale University to study architecture. She has an older brother, the poet Tan Lin.

A life in dates

2022“In art, I get to walk into my head and do whatever I want to do, to free up completely.”In their words22 December 2022"The Private World of the Public Artist Maya Lin" in Smithsonian Magazine (22 December 2022.Read the whole statement

“I think art is different. I think you have to be who you are. My art happens to be very integrally linked with my environmental concerns.”In their words19 November 2022"Maya Lin on Art, Architecture, Landscape and Memory" in Bloomberg (19 November 2022)Read the whole statement

“It took a lot to understand and to thread a path that would allow me to develop in architecture, and develop my voice there, develop my voice in art.”In their words19 November 2022"Maya Lin on Art, Architecture, Landscape and Memory" in Bloomberg (19 November 2022)Read the whole statement

“There are a couple of things out there that I really want to do. I’ll tell you one. I want to work in a landfill.”In their words19 November 2022"Maya Lin on Art, Architecture, Landscape and Memory" in Bloomberg (19 November 2022)Read the whole statement

“By second or third grade, I was doing my own thing. I still resent being told what to do in any way, shape, or form. I’m sure it’s clinical.”In their words30 June 2022"Maya Lin, The Reluctant Memorialist" in The New Yorker (30 June 2022)Read the whole statement

Time 100Award2018Ken Burns American Heritage PrizeAward2017“I’ve always been pretty fixated on water. Maybe it’s because it exists in multiple states, and you can never understand it in nature as a fixed moment in time.”In their words10 August 2017"Artists at Work: Maya Lin" in Interview Magazine (10 August 2017)Read the whole statement

2016Presidential Medal of FreedomAward2011Rachel Carson AwardAward2009National Medal of ArtsAward2005National Women's Hall of FameAward2004Pearl S. Buck AwardAward1999Rome PrizeAward1990Ohio Women's Hall of FameAward1959Born5 October 1959

Also in Deutsch

Photos 3

Lin's winning submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial design competition.

Lin's The Women's Table in front of the Sterling Memorial Library, commemorating the role of women at Yale University.

In their own words 10

Maya Lin

10 statements, newest first

Every bowl we ate off was something he made by hand: stonewares connected to nature and natural colors and materials.
Dec 22, 2022, "The Private World of the Public Artist Maya Lin" in Smithsonian Magazine (22 December 2022), Own words
In art, I get to walk into my head and do whatever I want to do, to free up completely.
Dec 22, 2022, "The Private World of the Public Artist Maya Lin" in Smithsonian Magazine (22 December 2022., Own words
I leave it up to the viewers.
Nov 19, 2022, "Maya Lin on Art, Architecture, Landscape and Memory" in Bloomberg (19 November 2022), Own words