Sculptures have never been my favorite form of artwork. I appreciate their beauty and the skill, time, and patience needed to create them, but I personally have never cared much for them. I am not going to lie and say that the Ruth Asawa gallery left me with a newfound passion for sculptures, but it did open my eyes a little more and I did enjoy the pieces that I saw.

I decided to capture Asawa’s Untitled: Hanging Asymmetrical Eleven Interlocked Bubbles from below. It looked very interesting looking at it head on, so I wondered what it would look like when you stood underneath it, and the image I got was actually pretty amazing. It reminded me of the solar system and of all of the planets in orbit, although I don’t think that was the purpose. These galvanized steel, brass, and iron bubbles did not remind anyone else I asked of the solar system. However, what I drew from this experience is how dynamic art is. There isn’t just one correct interpretation. Mine may very well be different from yours, but that doesn’t make either of ours more or less right. I also appreciated how different the sculpture looked depending on how you looked at it. The angle and direction figured heavily into the viewer’s perception of it.

Speaking of directions and angles, I was also able to catch this image of Asawa’s Untitled: Hanging Seven;Lobed, Continuous Interwoven Form, with Spheres within Two Lobes against the light coming in from the window. I was intrigued by the lack of opacity, since usually when I think of sculptures I imagine something solid. The way the light looked coming through this piece was really quite beautiful, and that effect wouldn’t have been achieved had Asawa chosen a different medium. This particular sculpture and the way the light shone through the interwoven copper and iron made me think of how despite the complexity and hardness of life, through transparency and openness, there is always a way for lightness to peek through in an otherwise dark time. Learning about Asawa’s experiences in the internment camp and the discrimination she faced helped me come to this interpretation. She took the wrought iron of the worst she had been given and turned it into something inspiring.

I by no means have turned into a sculpture enthusiast, but I enjoyed learning about Ruth Asawa’s life and seeing how she created such intricate art that is open to infinite interpretations.