The lightness of metal in the woven sculptures of Ruth Asawa

January 13, 2020 at 12:20 p.m.


The lightness of metal in the woven sculptures of Ruth Asawa


The sculptures of Ruth Asawa They start from the fascination of this artist with natural forms.

To Asawa, of Japanese descent, it became a necessity to translate his drawings into three-dimensional materials.

But all its references came from the observing the patterns he saw in plants, animals and natural formations.

Ruth Aiko Asawa was born in California in 1926 and his biography is marked by a series of particular milestones.

During world war II, she and her family were interned in concentration camps for Japanese.

Because of her nationality, she could not enter the university, where she wanted to make a career as an art teacher.

However, after a trip to Mexico where he met Clara Portset, she recommended attending the Black Mountain College

Woven pendants

 

Ruth Asawa he was in this experimental school for three years, and there he developed his first approaches to sculpture.

She said she learned the techniques of weaving in wickerwork workshops in Toluca.

And he put this learning into practice in the context of experimentation at the North Carolina school.

Their structures, both organic and geometric, hang on the roofs of the spaces they inhabit, transforming them into abstract landscapes.

Crucial part of Ruth Asawa's pieces, In addition to the transparencies, they are the shadows they cast.

Well, according to the sculptor, the piece is finished with them.

The educational activism of Ruth Asawa

 

In addition to his creative work, Ruth Asawa did not abandon his desire to Teaching and community commitment.

It was essential for her to give observation tools and show how art was an accessible activity.

Thus, he founded the Alvarado School Arts Workshop in 1968 in San Francisco.

And throughout his life he maintained the political commitment to create and sustain art programs for children and residents of his community.

El August 5, 2013, Ruth Asawa died in San Francisco, of natural causes.

He left a legacy with both his sculptures and his ideas about How art can inhabit more spaces.
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