Maya Lin Quotes

I think you always have to go as an artist with instinct, I really do.

No one reads my books until they're finished because I don't want feedback. It confuses me, and it changes things; if I get too much feedback, I get thrown off my path.

I don't believe that an animation studio should be an executive-driven studio.

I love being creative. I love acting, but I also love directing because you get to have a vision for the whole and bring that vision to fruition.

No one can give me advice on 'Star Wars' because nobody knows what I'm doing in 'Star Wars.'

You have to draw on your unconscious when you make a film - you can't worry about whether it's costing a lot of money.

People who don't like my work say that the connections seem too arbitrary. But that's how life is.

I like directing myself; I feel like it's one less person to give notes to. There's an efficiency in it. I'm also kind of a control freak. So I like the fact that it gives me more control in the overall picture.

If my films don't show a profit, I know I'm doing something right.

I need to find a way of retaining creative control.

You seldom get that in film where you're lucky if you get any say at all in the final cut.

I've already felt that I want to direct. Being an executive producer is like the best job in the world because you make all these executive decisions and then you leave the money to other people. You don't have to be on set and counting beans.

The artist discards all theories, both his own and those of others. He forgets everything when he is in front of his canvas.

You're supposed to be a control freak when you're an artist. That's the whole point of having a vision: Why have one if you're not going to protect it?

So much of art-making is about reducing things to the essentials, so I don't feel particularly crippled by this. I don't want it to look natural because then I would be making a documentary film.

I don't have a directorial overview, which sometimes is very helpful.

Writing for myself and writing for another artist are two very different experiences. When I handle both the story and the art, I have full control. I can endlessly tweak every word and every line.

When we were making 'Arrested Development,' it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. You know, nobody was watching. We weren't getting feedback. The job wasn't paying very well. But the one thing I did feel confident about was: No one will ever be able to do this again. Because no one would be stupid enough to try.

The Internet has allowed a lot of access - people feel entitled to change the ending of games, for example. So there are a lot more voices coming at you all the time, which I think has its effect on creative decision making and possibly makes people more afraid to take risks.

People always want an explanation about everything and I cannot give it to them. Because I don't know myself. 'Why did you do a pair of pants like that?' I have no idea. I'm not going to have a 20-minute political discussion about the necessity for slashed, painted leather jeans. Basically, I don't know more than you.

Ultimately in the end, it's the director's choice.

There's a creative freedom with being under the radar. But I guess if you're too under the radar, you get canceled?

Art requires choices, the more specific, the better.

My own position is so far on the obsessive side of preparation and professionalism that I fear my point of view is not going to be shared by anyone.

When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art.