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

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.

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. 

NEW CONTENT: 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. 

Paperback, 328 pages, 2025.

8 x 6 in.