Through her innovative experimentations across media, Ruth Asawa (American, 1926–2013) invented a powerful vocabulary that brought a unique perspective to the field of modern abstract art. Her use of nontraditional materials, such as wire, resulted in work that fosters a deeper awareness of natural forms by revealing their structural properties and transfigures the commonplace into metaphors for life processes.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have benefited from an exceptionally close professional and personal relationship with Asawa and her family for decades. Through their generosity and others, the Museums’ collection of sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs comprise the single greatest collection of Asawa's work in any public institution.

Ruth Asawa, Desert Plant, 1965. Printed in the USA. Measures 7 x 5 in.