Overview

Gallery 10 - Later Sculpture, 1970s and Beyond is a large rectangular room with sculptures hung on the walls, two clusters of sculptures jutting out from the walls, midway along the room, and a case sitting in the middle of the room.

We enter Gallery 10 in the back right corner of the room. In this gallery there are 12 described artworks. On the back wall to our left is a sculpture hanging in a cluster of four above a low oval plinth jutting out from the wall. In the middle of the room on our left is a case with 10 miniature sculptures and on the wall in front of us in the left corner is a tied-wire sculpture.

The exit to Gallery 11 is directly across from the entrance, on the right side of the front wall.

Wall Text

Later Sculpture, 1970s and Beyond

“I’m not so interested in the expression of something. . . . I’m more interested in what the material can do. And so that’s why I keep exploring.”

—Ruth Asawa

Throughout the 1970s and beyond, Asawa continued, as she described it, “to explore the limits of materials, growth, and form by making sculpture with wire.” As she created new variations of looped- and tied-wire compositions, some closed and some open, some suspended from above and others wall-mounted, she also furthered her material exploration of resin and experimented with colored glass.

Sculptures Asawa referred to as her “miniatures,” a grouping of which appears in the central case in this gallery, constituted a new area of emphasis during the artist’s later years. While Asawa had made small-scale works as early as the 1950s, in the late 1970s she took them on as a particular challenge. “I am going blind making these crocheted miniatures. I’ve decided to make them before my eyes change any more.” All of the miniatures are characterized by modest proportions relative to her body of work as a whole and by her use of very thin gauge wire that required deft handwork.

Asawa’s smallest sculpture—a single sphere made in the year 2000—measures just one-and-an-eighth inches in diameter. One of the last wire sculptures the artist made is an open-window form copper miniature of the same year that is shaped like a fish.

Image

Caption

Asawa with a looped-wire sculpture in her living room, San Francisco, 1976. Photograph by Allen Nomura

Description

A black and white photo of Asawa, a Japanese American woman sitting on the corner of a table, bent forward working on a large, looped-wire sculpture. The dark metal sculpture resembles three stacked spheres. Its mesh-like structure is transparent and extends past the frame of the photo on our left. In the background are large windows letting in natural light. Asawa has a round face, slightly down turned lips and wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. Her straight black hair is pulled back in a low ponytail and she is wearing a light-colored sweater and jeans.

Objects

Untitled (S.297, Hanging Miniature Four Spiraling Columns of Open Windows)

Label Text

2000
Copper wire
Private collection, courtesy Waqas Wajahat, New York

Visual Description

A miniature suspended copper looped-wire conical sculpture with flared arcing openings, about the size of a vase. The entire surface undulates with the curved protrusions which create windows into and through the sculpture resembling a pinecone or a fish covered in many fins.

Untitled (S.294, Hanging Miniature Eight-Lobed, Multi-Layered Interlocking Continuous Form with Spheres in the First and Seventh Lobes)

Label Text

ca. 2000
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A miniature suspended looped-wire sculpture forming a series of eight stacked irregular bulbous shapes. The copper wire sculpture is narrow and about the height of a nightstand. The elongated sculpture features multiple rounded segments that vary in size resembling a series of interconnected lobes and hourglass figures. A second layer of mesh undulating shapes can be seen through the see through outer layer.

Untitled (S.525, Hanging Miniature Nine-Lobed, Single-Layered Continuous Form with a Sphere in the First Lobe)

Label Text

1980s
Copper wire
Private collection, courtesy Waqas Wajahat, New York

Visual Description

A suspended miniature sculpture created from looped copper wire, forming a series of nine bulbous lobes stacked in a column. The sculpture is about the height of a short cane. Each symetrical onion shaped lobe has slight variations from one to the next gently tapering at the necks between each bulb. Nestled inside the top lobe is a smaller round sphere. The shiny copper wire creates a mesh like surface allowing light to shine through.

Untitled (S.306, Hanging Miniature Five Interlocking Double Trumpets)

Label Text

ca. 1978
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A miniature, looped wire sculpture with a symmetrical design, consisting of five petal-like structures radiating outwards from a central point. Each silvery petal is formed by a series of looping wires that create a delicate, lace-like appearance. The wires are tightly wound and interwoven, forming a complex pattern that resembles natural forms such as ferns or feathers. The overall structure is about the size of a small adult's hand.

Continuous (S.340, Hanging Miniature Single-Lobed, Three-Layered Continuous Form within a Form)

Label Text

ca. 1981-82
Gold-filled wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A small multi layered suspended sculpture made from gold looped-wire, about the size of a softball. The sculpture consists of an outer slightly flattened spherical shape. The outer surface curves inward at the bottom of the sculpture, creating two smaller, connected spherical forms nestled within one another. The looped wire creates an airy pattern, allowing light to diffuse through with a density of overlapping metal at the center of the lobe.

Untitled (S.681, Hanging Miniature Sphere)

Label Text

ca. 2000
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A suspended miniature looped wire sphere made of looped gold colored wire. The entire sculpture is slightly bigger than a quarter and made from a series of interconnected loops and twists, creating an open, lattice-like structure.

Untitled (S.020, Hanging Miniature Two Interlocking, Three-Layered Spheres)

Label Text

ca. 1978
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A suspended miniature looped-wire sculpture of two overlapping multilayered oval lobes made of looped reddish copper wire, about the size of a small watermelon. The two large lobes are roughly the same size, overlapping and intersecting one, on top of the other like a Venn diagram. Each main lobe has two additional spheres suspended within creating a layered effect as light diffuses through the open holes in the wire surface.

Untitled (S.077, Hanging Miniature Seven-Lobed Continuous Form within a Form)

Label Text

ca. 1978
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A suspended looped copper wire sculpture composed of a series of seven interconnected bulbous shapes, about the length of an umbrella. The sculpture is made of thin metal wire, forming a mesh-like texture. Each segment is rounded with a central construction, resembling elongated onions or lanterns connected by thin tubes. The middle lobe is the largest with them getting smaller in size up and down the sculpture. The last lobe at the bottom resembles a teardrop shape. Nestled inside the middle five lobes are two additional smaller lobes sitting at their base.

Untitled (S.772, Hanging Miniature Open Form with Five Fluted Edges)

Label Text

ca. 1976
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A miniature suspended looped-wire sculpture resembling undulating fans or a voluminous skirt in mid twirl about the size of an adult human hand. The copper wire has a reddish hue.

Untitled (S.342, Hanging or Wall-Mounted Miniature Tied-Wire, Open-Center, Five-Petaled Form Based on Nature)

Label Text

ca. 1965
Copper wire
Private collection

Visual Description

A miniature tied wire sculpture about the size of a large adult hand. It begins in the center with a group of bundled copper wires in the shape of a flower that extends into a symmetrical star shape. Radiating out from the bundled shapes are singular pieces of wire resembling a snowflake or thorned flower. The copper material is a dark reddish brown.

Untitled (S.734, Hanging Miniature Two Interlocking Cones)

Label Text

ca. 1958
Silver wire
Private Collection

Visual Description

A miniature silver looped-wire mesh sculpture of two intersecting cones creating an hourglass shape about the size of an adult's hand. The structure is made from interconnected loops of metal wire, creating a lattice-like pattern. The cones narrow in the middle where they pierce into each other's tip.

Ruth Asawa and Bruce Sherman

Label Text

Born 1926, Norwalk, California; died 2013, San Francisco
Born 1943, San Francisco; died 2009, San Francisco
Untitled (S.100, Hanging Tied-Wire, Double-Sided, Open-Center, Six-Petaled Form with Stained Glass)
ca. 1978
Stainless steel wire with stained glass
Private collection

For two or three years in the mid- to late-1970s, Asawa collaborated with Noe Valley neighbor, musician, and glass specialist Bruce Sherman. Together the two produced a number of tied-wire sculptures that incorporated stained glass. Asawa asked Sherman to “put glass in negative spaces” between the branches to create “overlapping colors and layers of glass,” as seen in Untitled (S.100), which makes use of two shades of blue.

Visual Description

A large, tied-wire sculpture with blue stained-glass elements in the shape of a geometric flower about the size of a large dining room table. The central design is a symmetrical six petaled flower with dark blue glass. Radiating out from that are multi layered petals with smaller details of light and dark blue glass and openings in the wire. Surrounding this central design is a network of interconnected and tied wire loops, creating an outer web-like structure, tipped with delicate spikey wire pieces.

Getting to the Next Gallery

The exit to Gallery 11 is directly across from the entrance, on the right side of the front wall.