Why did Maya Ying Lin enter the competion?

Answer 1

You do not say what competition you are talking about! As her best-known work is the Veterans Memorial, maybe that is what you mean. She was elected the winner of that competition. But WHY she entered the competition nobody but herself can know. ------------ She did not know much about the Vietnam War but entered the memorial design competition because she saw how much it affected everyone and how the wounds were so deep. The memorial symbolizes a knife and its gash. However, this was not thought to be enough in the public's eye, so the statues were added off to the side.