When I was in Arizona for Memorial Day weekend, I taught my grandson and daughter-in-law how to make the looping wire sculptures like Ruth Asawa. I had gathered all the materials I would need and brought them with me. The dowels were the easy part. Home Depot has 4-foot long dowels of various diameters and will cut them to whatever lengths you want. The wire was more of a problem. Home Depot had wire that was much thinner and much thicker than the 22-gauge that we used in the demonstration by Asawa's daughter Aiko Cuneo. Amazon.com has wire of all sizes and composition, but there wasn't time to place an order with them. (It'a amazing what you can find on Amazon!) I finally found some galvanized 22-gauge wire at JoAnn Fabrics and that is what we used.
My grandson really enjoyed working on his project and decided to create something of his own when he finished the basic bowl. He decided it was really a bird's nest and formed a bird out of wire to sit in it. My daughter-in-law turned her bowl into a candle holder. I was curious to try Asawa's technique of flaring the wire out and then skipping a row to see what would happen. My finished project serves no purpose whatsoever, but it was fun doing it!
I am a huge fan of Ruth Asawa Lanier and am so envious that you were able to attend a wire looping workshop. Your projects that you did with your grandson are lovely! I have been looking to see if Aiko Cuneo is holding another demonstration but have had no luck. Would it be possible for you to explain to me how to join the loops once you take them off of the dowel? I would greatly appreciate it. I feel crazy for asking but I am so enchanted with this technique.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Debbie Yoshii
Hi Debbie,
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the post. Finishing off is easy. There's no "joining" per se. You just make loops all the way to the end of the wire and tuck the end in when you are finished, preferably with the point in a down or inward position (sort of similar to finishing off a knitting project). You can do it so that it is very hard to find the end later.