maya lin renders underwater topography as wooden seascape sculptures

with an interest in human intervention in the landscape, american artist maya lin considers the earth’s disappearing natural features for her ‘bodies of water’ series. working together with a map company, lin has created a series of seascape sculptures that visualize detailed, underwater topographic information of the red, black and caspian seas. rendered in stratified plywood layers and balancing carefully on pedestals, the large-scale works depict the seas’ scaled volumes as a three-dimensional mass, suggesting that there is more to these natural landscapes than typically meets the eye.

black sea (bodies of water series), 2006 | baltic birch plywood
edition 2 of 3, with 1 AP | sculpture: 18 3/8 x 59 3/4 x 33 3/8 inches; base: 33 1/4 x 24 x 16 inches
all images © maya lin, courtesy pace gallery

maya lin’s ‘bodies of water’ series is part of the group exhibition ‘of a different nature’ at jack shainman gallery in new york from now until march 12, 2016. the exhibit features lin alongside artists el anatsui, and bernd and hilla becher, who both share roots in a rigid formality that descends into unexpected and often poetic beauty. 

‘black sea’ 

detail of ‘black sea’ 

red sea (bodies of water series), 2006
baltic birch plywood
sculpture: 21 x 92 1/2 x 17 inches; base: 31 x 30 x 18 inches
edition 2 of 3, with 1 AP

‘red sea’

‘red sea’

caspian sea (bodies of water series), 2006
baltic birch plywood
sculpture: 19 x 58 1/2 x 32 7/8 inches; base: 36 1/2 x 20 x 16 inches
edition 1 of 3, with 1 AP

‘caspian sea’

‘caspian sea’

installation view at jack shainman gallery