This book provides an informal biography of the wunderkind who became one of America's greatest living artists and most well-known architects.
Although she entered Yale to study zoology, Maya Lin was to become the world renowned artist whose best-known work is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—a design she conceived while only 21 years old and still an undergraduate student. Lin has since designed the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, AL, received numerous awards for her architecture and artwork, and been inducted to the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Many are familiar with the art and architectural design work of Maya Lin, but the compelling details of her personal background are less well known. This book not only focuses upon Lin's substantial achievements throughout her life, but also presents Maya Lin's "prehistory," describing family events in China that led to her parents' flight to the United States.
Author Donald Langmead guides readers through Lin's ancestry and family connections in precommunist China; her childhood and youth in Athens, Ohio; the story behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC; her career after 1982 (by decades); and emphasis on environmental conservation. Written for a young adult and general readership, Maya Lin: A Biography provides an up-to-date description of how she became one of the most famous and respected artists in America.
Features
• Provides a timeline of Maya Lin's significant life events, artworks, and exhibitions
• Includes various photographs to accompany the text
• Contains a bibliography organized by types of sources, including writings by Maya Lin, books, monographs and catalogues, transcripts of interviews, and videos
• Includes an index of important people and artworks
Highlights
• Explores the significance of Lin's family background in depth
• Examines the design development of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from a design teacher's point of view
• Presents a thorough analysis of the tension between Lin's "artist side" and "architect side"
• Traces Lin's growing involvement with environmental issues
Donald Langmead, PhD, was adjunct professor at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. He held doctoral and master's degrees in the history of architecture and a postgraduate qualification in city planning. His published works include 11 books in Australia and the United States, such as Greenwood's Icons of American Architecture: From the Alamo to the World Trade Center; Greenwood's The Artists of De Stijl: A Guide to the Literature; Praeger's Frank Lloyd Wright: A Bio-Bibliography; and many articles in Australian and overseas journals.
