Redwood 356 (PF.1012, Cross-Section of Redwood Tree), 1960

Virginia Overton: Redwood 356 is one of Asawa's self-described torture exercises. 

Narrator: The title includes the number “356” because that’s how many rings Asawa drew, moving outward from a small inner circle until she reached the end of the page. Viginia Overton. 

Virginia Overton: In this drawing, one of the things that struck me initially was whether it was a drawing of an actual slice of a tree or a drawing of the idea of a tree and what a tree is. And so looking at it, I could see it both ways, but it's interesting if it is the drawing of the idea of a tree, it does such a succinct job of capturing that.

I work with wood so much and seeing this drawing really evoked something emotional in me almost. I'm very familiar and connected to all types of wood, and I remember seeing my first redwood in California when I was in my twenties. It was such a massive, massive tree, and it was just shocking to see something that was so old and still standing and still thriving. So when I saw this drawing of Asawa's, the fact that it's 356 rings suggests quite an old tree, and then this convergence of her hand replicating that feeling of such age in a tree really captivated me.