Untitled (MI.146, Clam Shell with Petunias), c. 1969

Suzanne Jackson: Look how delicate those flowers are against the shell.

Narrator: Artist Suzanne Jackson.

Suzanne Jackson: She has the clam shell, and you feel that hardness next to those really beautiful flowers that look as if you touch them, every petal just might fall.

The kind of tubular part of the petunia is also really similar to what's happening with the line in the clam. They're in rhythm and like waves in the water.

Narrator: The work is drawn from a giant clam shell, which also inspired another work--a watercolor--in this room. Asawa collected and was gifted objects like these, as well as plants, flowers, and bouquets that her friends and family thought she might like to draw. In turn, she often gave the resulting drawings to those friends. In this way, drawing became a kind of connective tissue for the community around Asawa.