Ruth Asawa | Adversity Allowed Time For Art
When Mondoblogo published a post of Ruth Asawa’s extraordinary crocheted wire sculptures – with hardly any commentary – our first thought was: we want a house filled with that work, those forms hanging above. Then we looked her up. At RuthAsawa.com we learned:
When Ruth was 16, she and her family were interned along with 120,000 other people of Japanese ancestry who lived along the West Coast of the United States. For many, the upheaval of losing everything, most importantly their right to freedom and a private, family life, caused irreparable harm. For Ruth, the internment was the first step on a journey to a world of art that profoundly changed who she was and what she thought was possible in life. In 1994, when she was 68 years old, she reflected on the experience: ‘I hold no hostilities for what happened; I blame no one. Sometimes good comes through adversity. I would not be who I am today had it not been for the Internment, and I like who I am.’
It is an attitude we admire: the ability to move forward and live and find the gifts hidden in things that might seem devastating. Before the internment, Ruth spent most of her free time working on the family farm. It was during the internment that she had time to explore making art, eventually studying with Josef Albers at Black Mountain College. The ethereal organic forms she made came directly from her experience working on the farm…
…one experience impacting the other and back again…
Dig her lovely living room: her forms make it strangely serene…
photos: imogen cunningham
ruth asawa : genius with wire
Ruth Asawa
1952
I’ve been thinking about
Northern California a lot lately….
So when I saw this Ruth Asawa book
hiding on a low shelf I wondered
why the fuck I hadn’t posted
anything on her yet.
Ok,
maybe there have been a few mentions here and there,
but she is one of my all time favorites
and definitely an inspiration when it
comes to obsessiveness and the ability for tedious
mind-expanding repetition…
traits greatly admire.
So,
get into these shots, and expect more from
me on Ruth soon…
Ruth Asawa in her studio.
San Francisco
1959
Ruth Asawa
Life magazine feature
1954
Ruth Asawa’s living room
1970’s
Buckminster Fuller with an Asawa sculpture
in his Dymaxion House.
1964
Ruth Asawa’s wedding ring designed by
Buckminster Fuller
and made by Mary Jo Slick Godfrey.
1949
Ruth Asawa working on a bed.
Photographs by her friend
Imogen Cunningham
1957
(Imogen took most of the photos in this post.)
Ruth Asawa and Imogen Cunningham
1975
Ruth Asawa made this wearable gold crown
for Imogen Cunningham.
Late 1950s
Ruth and her children at home.
1957
Ruth Asawa
1957
Ruth Asawa
1952
Ruth Asawa
“Untitled” (S.210)
1958
Ruth Asawa
“Untitled” (S.089)
1950s
Ruth Asawa
“Untitled” (S.250)
1950s
Ruth Asawa
Group of “Untitled”‘s
1950-60s
Ruth and her husband Albert in their living room.
1970s
(You think those lucite sculptures may be by Bucky?)
Ruth Asawa
The living room ceiling at the Asawa-Lanier home.
1990s
Ruth Asawa
“Untitled” (S.272)
1950s
Ruth Asawa
“Untitled” (S.250)
1950s
(detail)
Ruth Asawa at work.
1956
All content from the AMAZING book
Buy it!
(It’s about 30 bucks on Amazon, such a deal!)
