asawa was born in norwalk, california and was the fourth child out of seven. she attended rohwer high school in desha county, arkansas as she had to evacuate from california due to world war ii. rohwer was a japanese-american concentration camp at the time. she went to  the university of wisconsin but could not get a degree because of where she was from. after that, she went to black mountain college. ever since she was a young girl, she showed an interest in art. she even drew in the mud when she was a child. ruth is famous for making sculptures out of metal wire. “meandering lines and patterns, explorative variations of the same form or subject, and the most economical way to convey an image and characterize her work.” she helped to found scrap, a recycling art program. this quote is saying that trying out different patterns and lines is the best way for her to make her work different from other people’s work. asawa also created the san francisco school of arts. ruth believed that anybody who wanted to could do art and everyone had a part of them which was artistic. “art is for everyone. it is not something that you should have to go to the museums in order to see and enjoy.”said asawa.