Sometimes an art exhibit sparks my own creativity in entirely unexpected ways. Last summer, I was enthralled by The Listening Room, part of the SF MoMA Art of Noise exhibit. This spring and summer, I've been captivated by the Ruth Asawa Retrospective at SF MoMA.
Finding active rest in the presence of art
The first time I visited the Asawa retrospective, I was in need of some active rest, that restorative kind of engagement you find while surrounded by art.
The visit was needed to restore my energy after having spent the weekend preparing and teaching a workshop. I craved an opportunity to create while surrounded by art. So I carved out a chunk of time on a Monday to visit the recently opened Ruth Asawa show, bringing my travel sketchbook with hopes of squeezing in some drawing.
Drawings in the air
I ended up spending three hours immersed in the exhibit. Finding an out-of-the way spot, I settled in to draw.
Because Asawa's sculptures are created with wire, they're almost like drawings suspended in air. My favorite warm-up exercise—blind contour drawing—seemed perfectly suited to these pieces. Looking at them, it strikes me that they resemble blind contours floating in space.
They were so fun to draw and, then later, I filled them in with gray watercolor washes. The result was remarkably similar to Ruth's own diagrams of her sculptural ideas (shown in the image above).
Drawing for understanding
After the warm ups, I drew the sculptures more intentionally. Through this process, I began to truly understand them — to grasp the interplay of shape within shape. I noticed that while the wire remains a consistent gauge throughout, when one “basket” is layered inside another, it creates an optical illusion of depth. And that’s what creates the depth in the cast shadows, much like how watercolor washes appear darker in overlapping areas of my blind contours.
Asawa’s Pattern
It was a lovely day, and I would have been completely satisfied if drawing in my notebook had been my artful experience of the exhibit. But then, when I returned home to refine my sketches, I had an internal spark.
Looking through my drawings, an idea flowed through me intuitively. It happened, purely through visual understanding of the sculptures, and recognizing the pattern that emerges. I saw how it could become a pattern to explore and play with. A pattern I’ve been regularly playing with since April! What you see in the following images is my exploration of this pattern.
It's a pattern I'm excited to share with you, and in my next blog post, I'll provide step-by-step instructions for creating it yourself.
To learn more about Ruth Asawa, visit the retrospective through September 2, 2025 at SF MoMA. There has also been a lovely series of posts written on Substack by Wendy MacNaughton.
If you’re feeling inspired to see even more art, check out my recent blog post for other California art on exhibit.