Lin Emery (1926-2021) is an American sculptor renowned for her pioneering work in kinetic and abstract sculpture. Having lost her father at the age of three, she enrolled at Columbia University at just sixteen and went on to study at Syracuse University, the University of Mexico, the University of Chicago, and the Sorbonne. While in Paris, Emery studied sculpture under Russian artist Ossip Zadkine, cultivating her passion for three-dimensional form.

Returning to the United States, she trained in welding and casting at the New York Sculpture Center and eventually settled in New Orleans, transforming her living space into a fully equipped studio. Her early work was largely figurative, creating life-size religious figures on commission for Southern churches. Gradually, Emery shifted her focus to the physical support systems and welded armatures underlying these figures, exploring the inherent structures of form.

Following the success of her abstract work in New Orleans and New York, Emery began experimenting with motion, creating sculptures designed to move in response to wind or water. She describes her practice as a dance, with each piece’s choreography informing the next. Through this approach, Emery has become a leading figure in kinetic art, blending technical mastery with an elegant sense of balance, rhythm, and interaction between sculpture and environment.