Maya Lin brings her ‘Systematic Landscapes’ to the de Young Museum
By Sharon Anderson

Through mid-January 2009, the de Young Museum will exhibit new sculptures by the celebrated artist Maya Lin.

She is a sculptor associated with contemporary art traditions relating to minimalism and nature. Lin received international acclaim when she won a public competition for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington at the age of 21. With the names of 58,195 dead soldiers etched in stone, the memorial’s testament of sacrifice initially drew such emotionally charged reactions that Lin’s name was not even mentioned at the 1982 opening ceremony. This stark, black V-shaped monument was at first controversial, but has become one of the most beloved public tourist destinations in America.

Lin went on to produce other public monuments such as the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. Similarly, this work features a round slab of black granite that presents the names of fallen Americans. Carved out from the center in straight lines like petals on a flower, forty names appear including descriptions of deaths. These are names of just some of the people who died in the struggle for equality and integration for African-Americans between the years of 1954 to 1968. Deliberately chosen, these years represent the U. S. Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in schools unlawful (1954), and the year that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated (1968).

Smaller, more whimsical installations reveal her diverse style, such as “Ecliptic,” completed in 2001 in Grand Rapids, Mich. “Ecliptic” is a functional skating rink featuring 166 fiber-optic lights embedded under the structure’s floor that shine at night, depicting the constellation in the sky over Michigan as they appeared on January 1, 2000.

Location and site-specific geography are also themes in Lin’s installations. “Ten Degrees North” was commissioned for the Rockefeller Foundation’s headquarters. In a table made from stone and water representing earth, Lin depicts the world from this specific perspective. She is currently working on pending outdoor installation projects in Washington State.

Born in Ohio in 1959, Lin draws her influences from varied sources such as Japanese gardens, Hopewell Indian earthen mounds and from earthworks artists such as Robert Smithson, creator of the “Spiral Jetty.” Less concerned with objects, Lin’s sculpture focuses on spatial associations that create an experience echoing the natural world.

The de Young exhibition focuses on Lin’s newer works that showcase her ability to synthesize sculpture and natural environments. “Systematic Landscape” features Lin’s sculptural environments of the last few years that communicate harmony in spatial relationships and nature. Lin intentionally creates ambiguity between her works and the gallery space to generate cohesiveness between art and the viewer.

A recipient of many awards and honors, Lin was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005. She has taken her love of environments to the world of conservation and biodiversity activism, serving as an advisor on sustainable energy use, and advocating for natural resource preservation with the Yellowstone Foundation.

In her activism and in the gentle beauty of her art, Lin’s vision illuminates what is sometimes forgotten; that is, human relationships and their impact on the natural world.
Maya Lin: “Systematic Landscapes” at the de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive; Oct. 25–Jan. 18, 2009; tickets $16–$20, include exhibition and same day admission to all concurrent special exhibitions, 415-750-3600, www.deyoungmuseum.org

Sharon Anderson is a Los Angeles-based painter. She regularly writes about the arts in Northside San Francisco and often appears in Art in America magazine.