Ruth Asawa : an artist takes shape

Title:

Author:

Nakahira, Sam, 1997- author, illustrator.

Summary:

"This graphic biography chronicles the genesis of Ruth Asawa as an artist--from the horror of Pearl Harbor to her transformative education at Black Mountain College to building her life in San Francisco, where she would further develop and refine her groundbreaking wire sculptures"-- Publisher

Audience:

Ages 13-18. Getty Publications.

Grades 10-12. Getty Publications.

Physical Description:

111 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Genre:

Biographical comics.

Graphic novels.

Nonfiction comics.

Personal Subject:

Asawa, Ruth-Comic books, strips, etc.

Subject Term:

Japanese American sculptors -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Sculptors -- Biography -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Women sculptors -- Biography -- Comic books, strips, etc.

Publisher:

Getty Publications,

Distribution by ABRAMS

Publication Date:

2024

ISBN:

9781947440098

Publication Information:

Los Angeles, California : Getty Publications, [2024]

New York : Distribution by ABRAMS

Call Number:

YA NAKAHIRA

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003758094	New Young Adult Graphic Novels	NAKAHIRA	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"A tender and thoughtful rendering of an important artist's life. Sam Nakahira uses the power and beauty of comics to its fullest to immerse you in the mind and genius of Ruth Asawa. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again!"--Tillie Walden, Eisner Award-winning cartoonist and illustrator

Brave, unconventional, and determined, Ruth Asawa let nothing stop her from living a life intertwined with art.

Renowned for her innovative wire sculptures, Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) was a teenager in Southern California when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forced into camps. Asawa's family had to abandon their farm, her father was incarcerated, and she and the rest of her family were sent to a detention center in California, and later to a concentration camp in Arkansas. Asawa nurtured her dreams of becoming an artist while imprisoned and eventually made her way to the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

This graphic biography by Sam Nakahira, developed in consultation with Asawa's younger daughter, Addie Lanier, chronicles the genesis of Asawa as an artist--from the horror of Pearl Harbor to her transformative education at Black Mountain College to building her life in San Francisco, where she would further develop and refine her groundbreaking sculpture.

Asawa never sought fame, preferring to work on her own terms: for her, art and life were one. Using lively illustrations and a dozen photographs of Asawa's artwork, Ruth Asawa: An Artist Takes Shape is a graphic retelling of her young adult years and demonstrates the transformative power of making art.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--A graphic biography that follows the life of Ruth Asawa (1926--2013), a Japanese American artist renowned for her innovative wire sculptures. Asawa grew up on a farm with her family in Southern California. She was a teen when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and her family was forced to abandon their farm. Her father was incarcerated, and she and the rest of her family were sent to a concentration camp in Arkansas. It was there, while imprisoned, that Asawa cultivated her dreams of becoming an artist. Nakahira chronicles Asawa's life with great detail, continuing with Asawa graduating high school in the camp and obtaining a scholarship to attend Milwaukee State Teacher College to become an art teacher, where she was unable to finish her degree due to anti-Japanese discrimination. Encouraged by her friends, Asawa entered the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina to study art. The book also includes coverage of other historical figures, like Asawa's great instructors Bauhaus-trained artists Anni and Josef Albers, inventor R. Buckminister Fuller, and choreographer Merce Cunningham, all who lent themselves to the transformation of her art making. VERDICT A first purchase; this detailed visual biography illustrates the story of an important Japanese American artist emerging from one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights in the 20th century--the incarceration of Japanese Americans.--Anna Ching-Yu Wong

Publisher's Weekly Review

Nakahira chronicles the young adult years of acclaimed Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa (1926--2013) in this illuminating graphic novel debut. Asawa works on her family farm in Norwalk, Calif., but dreams of accomplishing more. These dreams are put on hold when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, resulting in the discrimination of people of Japanese descent across the U.S. To protect themselves, the Asawa family destroy any artifact of their ancestry. Still, like many of the Japanese people they know, the Asawas are sent to an incarceration camp, where they are forced to live in deplorable conditions. Though life is bleak during her imprisonment, Asawa's interest in art takes flight. Across Nakahira's intimate b&w pen-drawn and digitally colored illustrations, Asawa makes her way to Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where she receives instruction from artist Josef Albers (1888--1976), who escaped Nazi Germany. Later, during a trip to Mexico, Asawa finds inspiration for her career-defining wire sculptures. This comprehensive look at the formative years and lasting legacy of a renowned artist showcases how, with great determination and an unwavering mindset of life and creativity being "one and the same," Asawa never let anything interfere with her art or her family. Ages 13--up. (Mar.)