Drawn Together: Ruth Asawa’s Art and Life

For Ruth Asawa, drawing was a daily practice. It served as an active mode of seeing, recording, understanding, and participating in the world around her. On the occasion of Ruth Asawa Through Line, this conversation brings together artists and scholars to consider how Asawa’s approach to drawing shows her engagement with the seemingly ordinary elements of everyday life. Moderated by Kim Conaty, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawings and Prints, the conversation features speakers Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Tony Lewis, and Kate Zambreno. Speakers Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander is Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Co-Director of the Asian American Art Initiative at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Tony Lewis is an artist based in Chicago. His practice is dedicated to various forms of drawing. Kate Zambreno is a writer based in New York. Her most recent book is The Light Room (2023), a meditation on art and care.