Mostly known for her hanging wired sculptures, Ruth Asawa has an exhibition on display at the David Zwirner Gallery. Ruth Asawa was a Japanese American born in California in 1926 to two Japanese immigrants. She was interned at the assembly center at the age of 16 during World War II, but was still able to receive an education through Black Mountain College. She was influenced by Josef Albers, Buckminster Fuller, and Merce Cunningham. I think that knowing this information about the artist helps understand and analyze the different sculptures drastically. Ruth Asawa said “a line can go anywhere,” which I think is very interesting because in a painting or drawing the artist is limited to what they can do, but in a sculpture, the artists has more liberty and freedom to shape their artwork. The material she used allowed her to take advantage of this freedom make her unique structures.
When I first walked into the gallery, the first thing I noticed was the minimalism of the rooms. The plain, white walls of the gallery contrasted the ornate features of all of the wired sculptures perfectly. The sunlight was radiating from the windows in the room and bouncing off of the sculptures as well. The detail of the structures were intricate and complex with the wire interwoven and interconnected in all different directions. Each piece was hung in a specific place so that they could stand out individually, but also look like uniformed as a whole collection. The once thing that stood out to me most, however, was the movement of the sculptures. Not one structure looked the same from different angles. As I walked around the room and kept an eye on the same sculpture, I saw it through a different lens each time.
This is one of my favorite pictures because it shows how the sculptures interact with each other. They are all so similar, yet still very different. When you look at this picture, you can see the depth between the sculptures and the different sizes of the sculptures are apparent through this angle.
I was particularly drawn to this one in the center, because of its unique color when compared to all of the other hanging structures. While most were a brown or darker in color, this one is a light pink and peach color. The light pink color stood out among the other pieces around it. It is also a lot skinnier and more uniform than most of the other ones around it. Is is called Untitled and its dimensions are 29 x 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches. It is a simple structure made out of cooper wire.
Another sculpture I found fascinating is this one which is also titled Untitled. This one is different because it is made with iron wire. Its dimensions are 41 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches. Compared to the more longer pieces around it, this one is very short and stubby. This one is also unique because it appears to have three separate layers. It makes me wonder what Ruth Asawa’s process was when creating this piece.
