Maya Lin and Chinese Heritage Essay

Maya Lin is a prominent American sculptor and architect due to her design in the Washington, D.C on Vietnam Veterans (Corbin, 66). She was born in Athens, Ohio on October 5, 1959. Lin's parents were Chinese emigrates who in 1949 absconded China when Communist were taking over the country. They had made a sensible conclusion not to raise Lin as a bilingual and they as well avoided associating her with any cultural practice related to China. In her entire life, she desired to be seen as an American. However, in most instances, she was not comfortable observing herself as a Chinese-American. Therefore, at Yale University where she graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's degree, she often had conversations of how she was recruited in an Asian America Society where she felt like a foreigner to the group. Therefore, by analyzing her art, it is evident that Lin identifies herself as Chinese American.

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Lin began to acknowledge her cultural heritage when she was in college. This was when she started having interests in the artistic adjacent of Asian design. Nonetheless, a negative practice which occurred in Denmark that carried aspects of racial discrimination inspired her to think deeply about her heritage as well as practice some of her culture in various facets of her art (Corbin, 66). Her initiative is evident in one of Lin's famous artwork which is famously known as Groundswell. Lin inscribes in this piece of artwork that it is her conscious energy on her desire to merger her Western and Eastern cultural heritage (Joppke & Morawska, 20). This was through mingling her attraction to southeastern Ohio land and its local burial mounds with her affection, particularly for the ranked-sand Japanese gardens. While in college, Lin also said that she did not deliberately execute her Asian American individuality into her artwork rather it was the art which aided and directed her to the acknowledgement of her identity (Joppke & Morawska, 24). Therefore, her artwork helped Lin appreciate that the impacts of her Chinese household found its path into her artwork which additionally made her comprehend the two faces of herself.

Conclusion

After a careful analysis of Lin's life and artwork such as Groundswell, I can relate her experience with myself since I am an American born in Japan. My parents raised me in Japan where I learnt much about Japanese language, traditions, and culture. Therefore, I can be identified as Asian American. Additionally, I grew under the influence of the western culture. Thus, the mix between the eastern and western impacts my individuality. Remarkably, while in high school, I had a desk mate born in American. However, he was not comfortable to be identified as a Japanese because her parents and entire family did not teach him his culture.

Works Cited

Corbin, Julianne. "Memory and Form: An Analysis of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial." Managing Editor (2016): 66.

Joppke, Christian, and Ewa Morawska. "Integrating Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States: Policies and Practices." Toward Assimilation and Citizenship: Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 1-36.