On Seeing, A Journal. #308

June 25th, 2019

“ABOVE and BEYOND: Interviews and Portraits of Extraordinary People in our Time, Maya Lin, Architect, Artist”

At the age of 21, while still a Yale undergraduate, Maya Lin created one of the most extraordinary and moving war monuments, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Striving to both mourn and ennoble the American dead without celebrating the war, she proposed a simple, eloquently somber black marble wall with the names of the fallen inscribed, column after column. The wall is a eulogy in stone.

Now almost 60, Lin has continued her career as an architect, designer, and artist who designs buildings, memorials and large land sculptures. She honors nature through creations that deal with the environment in decline, with the purpose of raising awareness of the environment for urban audiences.

Maya Lin has a long list of awards and recognitions, including a National Medal of the Arts and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is one of the most distinguished of the group of individuals who have come to my studio to be photographed and interviewed for my project Above & Beyond.
Click on the arrow to watch and listen (5 minutes, 50 seconds).
The participants in this project have been selected for their exceptional achievements; they include scientists, authors, playwrights, designers, musicians, artists, philosophers, etc.
For your interest, the complete library for all the weekly, On Seeing missives can be found here.