Leonardo Drew:
Leonardo Drew is influenced by the concept of grids and how they are the foundation of many things. He says that they are a form of structure that allows you to expand systematically. He is inspired by Piet Mondrian, an artist who largely focused on grids. I thought it was interesting that Drew was inspired by Mondrian enough to go visit his grave and leave a printed out painting.
Drew also spent some of his life traveling the world. In doing so , he found that he did not miss creating and being in his studio as much as he thought he would because he claims that art was going on within him as he was traveling. I found this to be very interesting and can definitely relate having just traveled abroad last year. He said that traveling allowed various things to influence his whole body and how he created his sculptures from then on.
Maya Lin:
Maya Lin combines art and architecture to create sculptures about the environment. I found it was interesting how she was going to be a field zoologist, but decided to focus on a career more related to her days of activism in the 1960’s. She is interested in form making and wants her audience to know what people are doing to the world around us. She has created pieces in which she cut into stone and made a model of what is left of certain oceans, showing how these vast bodies of waters are being impacted by climate change. I found this to be striking and a powerful way to catch people’s attention about climate change.