This sheet of 20 US postage stamps honor Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa, who is best known for her intricate looped-wire sculptures. The 20 stamps feature two each of the ten designs, each featuring the artist's signature wire sculptures, as well as a photograph of Asawa taken by Nat Farbman for Life magazine in 1954.
Born in rural California in 1926, Asawa is best known for her abstract sculptures, which challenge conventional notions of material and form. She first created the light transparent works in 1940s as a student at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Asawa creatively uses the wire forms that interlock, expand, and contract, utilizing the economy and flexibility of a wire enclosing three-dimensional space. in addition to single-layered sculptures, she creates continuous or intersecting surfaces. Sensual and organic, these multilayered yet still transparent works created a dynamic interplay between interior and exterior surfaces.
Inspired by natural elements such as plants, snail shells, spiderwebs, insect wings and water droplets, Ruth Asawa transformed industrial material into transparent and seemingly weightless works of art that challenged traditional definitions of sculpture. When shown together, her sculptures can evoke an undersea domain, a magical upside-down world or an environment all their own. A tireless advocate of community-based arts education, she is also acclaimed for her drawings, paintings, prints and large public projects.
The selvage features a photograph of Asawa taken by Nat Farbman in 1954 for Life magazine.
The Ruth Asawa stamps are good for 1 oz domestic mail forever.