Maya Lin Quotes


The role of art in society differs for every artist. Maya Lin Art 99
It terrified me to have an idea that was solely mine to be no longer a part of my mind, but totally public. Maya Lin Idea 81
I loved logic, math, computer programming. I loved systems and logic approaches. And so I just figured architecture is this perfect combination. Maya Lin Architecture 80
How we are using up our home, how we are living and polluting the planet is frightening. It was evident when I was a child. It's more evident now. Maya Lin Home 73
I left science, then I went into art, but I approach things very analytically. I choose to pursue both art and architecture as completely separate fields rather than merging them. Maya Lin Architecture 73
Every memorial in its time has a different goal. Maya Lin Goal 71
I try to give people a different way of looking at their surroundings. That's art to me. Maya Lin Architecture 71
Art is very tricky because it's what you do for yourself. It's much harder for me to make those works than the monuments or the architecture. Maya Lin Architecture 70
To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom. Maya Lin Uncategorized 67
I started studying what the nature of a monument is and what a monument should be. And for the World War III memorial I designed a futile, almost terrifying passage that ends nowhere. Maya Lin Nature 67
Even though I build buildings and I pursue my architecture, I pursue it as an artist. I deliberately keep a tiny studio. I don't want to be an architectural firm. I want to remain an artist. Maya Lin Architecture 63
If we can't face death, we'll never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light. Maya Lin Death 60
When I was building the Vietnam Memorial, I never once asked the veterans what it was like in the war, because from my point of view, you don't pry into other people's business. Maya Lin Business 59
I deliberately did not read anything about the Vietnam War because I felt the politics of the war eclipsed what happened to the veterans. The politics were irrelevant to what this memorial was. Maya Lin Politics 59
I was probably the first kid in my high school to go to Yale. I applied almost as a lark. Then, when I got there, I was the dumbest person in your class. Maya Lin Uncategorized 55
My parents are both college professors, and it made me want to question authority, standards and traditions. Maya Lin College 53
Some of your teachers are actually closer in age to you than you think. Maya Lin age 51
In art or architecture your project is only done when you say it's done. If you want to rip it apart at the eleventh hour and start all over again, you never finish. I was one of those crazy creatures. Maya Lin Architecture 51
To fly we have to have resistance. Maya Lin Fly 49
You have to have conviction and completely question everything and anything you do. No matter how much you study, no matter how much you know, the side of your brain that has the smarts won't necessarily help you in making art. Maya Lin Art 46
I probably spent the first 20 years of my life wanting to be as American as possible. Through my 20s, and into my 30s, I began to become aware of how so much of my art and architecture has a decidedly Eastern character. Maya Lin Architecture 45
When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they' be censored. We were a very insular little family. Maya Lin Family 44
I was always making things. Even though art was what I did every day, it didn't even occur to me that I would be an artist. Maya Lin Art 40
My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground. Maya Lin dad 37
You should be having more fun in high school, exploring things because you want to explore them and learning because you love learning-not worrying about competition. Maya Lin Uncategorized 36
Warmth isn't what minimalists are thought to have. Maya Lin Architecture 35
OK, it was black, it was below grade, I was female, Asian American, young, too young to have served. Yet I think none of the opposition in that sense hurt me. Maya Lin Uncategorized 34
All my work is much more peaceful than I am. Maya Lin Work 34
The definition of a modern approach to war is the acknowledgement of individual lives lost. Maya Lin Uncategorized 31
You have to let the viewers come away with their own conclusions. If you dictate what they should think, you've lost it. Maya Lin Uncategorized 31
My goal is to strip things down so that you need just the right amount of words or shape to convey what you need to convey. I like editing. I like it very tight. Maya Lin Goal 30
I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the teachers. This one chemistry teacher, she liked hanging out. I liked making explosives. We would stay after school and blow things up. Maya Lin Uncategorized 29
The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasn't about money. It was about teaching, or learning. Maya Lin Money 25
The process I go through in the art and the architecture, I actually want it to be almost childlike. Sometimes I think it's magical. Maya Lin Architecture 25
It's funny, as you live through something you're not aware of it. Maya Lin Funny 21

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