Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa

Now in paperback! The definitive biography and inspiring story of American sculptor Ruth Asawa.

“A fitting homage to this remarkable woman.” — The Wall Street Journal

This is the story of a woman who wielded imagination and hope in the face of intolerance and who transformed everything she touched into art . In this compelling biography, author Marilyn Chase brings Asawa's story to vivid life. She draws on Asawa's extensive archives and weaves together many voices—family, friends, teachers, and critics—to offer a complex and fascinating portrait of the artist.

Born in California in 1926, Ruth Asawa grew from a farmer's daughter to a celebrated sculptor. She survived adolescence in the World War II Japanese American internment camps and attended the groundbreaking art school at Black Mountain College. She then went on to develop her signature hanging-wire sculptures, create iconic urban installations, revolutionize arts education in her adopted hometown of San Francisco, fight through lupus, and defy convention to nurture a multiracial family. This richly visual volume is illustrated with over 70 reproductions of Asawa's art and archival photos of her life, including portraits shot by celebrated photographer Imogen Cunningham. It documents Asawa's transformative touch, most notably the way she turned wire—the material of the internment camp fences—into sculptures. Additions to the paperback: a foreword by Jonathan Laib, director of the David Zwirner Gallery, and an author's note that charts the continued rise of Asawa's star in the art world and beyond.
Ruth Asawa forged an unconventional path in everything she did. Her beloved fountains are now San Francisco icons, and her signature hanging-wire sculptures grace the MoMA, de Young, Getty, Whitney, and many more museums and galleries across America. Everything She Touched invites us to step into Asawa's story so “we can admire the magic of her sculpture and beauty as a person." (Harry S. Parker III, former director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

INSPIRING LIFE STORY: By exploring both Asawa's work and her life, Chase weaves a captivating tale of courage, vision, and resilience. Her remarkable story offers inspiration to artists and art lovers of every generation.

WORLD-RENOWNED ARTIST: Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) is a celebrated and internationally recognized artist best known for her hand-looped and tied-wire sculptures. Today, her work has found a home in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

NEW CONTENT: Since this biography's original publication in 2020, Ruth Asawa's art has been even more widely celebrated and exhibited. The paperback edition incorporates a new foreword and author's note, bringing the book up to date with the latest developments in this exceptional artist's legacy.

Perfect for: Artists and art students Fans of contemporary sculpture Anyone interested in Asian American culture and history Feminists, mothers, teachers, and history buffs Readers of art biographies and retrospectives such as Ruth Asawa: Life's Work , The Art of Feminism , and Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art