Ruth Aiko Asawa (1926–2013) was an American modernist artist best known for her ethereal looped-wire sculptures that translate natural and organic forms into intricate spatial drawings. Born in Norwalk, California to Japanese immigrant parents and raised on a farm, Asawa’s early life was profoundly shaped by the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, where she first studied drawing while interned at Rohwer. After leaving the camps, she studied at Black Mountain College under Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller, where she developed her sculptural language, drawing inspiration from basket-weaving techniques learned in Mexico. By the 1950s, Asawa gained critical and commercial recognition, while maintaining a lifelong commitment to public art and arts education. Her work is held in major museum collections, integrated into public spaces throughout San Francisco, and celebrated for its synthesis of material, line, and lived experience.