Untitled (S.003, Freestanding Reversible Undulating Form), 1998 Bronze

Virginia Overton: Part of the reason I was really interested in this sculpture is the fact that it is so open and solid at the same time. 

Narrator: Artist Virginia Overton. 

As a sculptor, it's a really delicate balance to reach, to make something feel very potentially ethereal and permanent at the same time. The artist produced works like these by first weaving a single strand of wire in an open form, then dipping it in wax repeatedly, and finally casting the object in bronze.

Narrator: Asawa began making sculptures like this one when she was working on her first public commission, a fountain that you can still see in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square. Titled Andrea, the fountain includes mermaids, frogs, sea turtles, and aquatic plants. Asawa turned to cast looped-wire forms to create the natural undulation of the mermaids’ tails. 

Virginia Overton: The curves create movement and solidity. And it's interesting because it really turns into an organic shape with stalactites and stalagmites coming off of it from the wax dripping as it dried.