SAN FRANCISCO — Ruth Asawa’s infant son, Paul, lies on a blanket in a tender ink drawing entitled “Untitled (FF.1234, Paul Lanier on a Blanket)” (c. 1962–63). Paul takes up just a small portion of the overall composition, his clothing rendered through hatch marks that blend in with those filling the rest of the picture plane. Asawa creates a beautiful optical tension between the figure and ground, literally blurring the distinction between her family and her art. Nearby hangs “Untitled (S.428, Hanging Möbius Strip)” (c. 1960), based on a möbius strip, a mathematical model that has no clear distinction between the top, bottom, or sides. Like the porous boundaries in the drawing of her son and the indistinguishable sides of a möbius strip, so it is with the life and legacy of Ruth Asawa. She gracefully moved between and wove together many sides — an innovative and singular artist, a tireless advocate for arts education, a community builder through her public artworks, and a loving wife and mother of six children. Asawa’s current retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) begins with her student years at the legendary Black Mountain College. We see several examples of her “dancers” motif — layered, rounded forms that were inspired by the dance classes she took with Merce Cunningham — such as “Untitled (BMC.52, Dancers)” (c. 1948–49), as well as pieces that were influenced by Josef Albers’s lessons on color relationships. A particularly beautiful work is “Untitled (BMC.94, In and Out)” (c. 1948–49), in which a smart use of color and a playful break away from expected pattern through irregular horizontal V shapes results in a variety of ambiguous figure-ground relationships. Ruth Asawa, “Untitled (WC.187, Two Watermelons)” (1960s), ink on technical paperBy opening the show with these works, the curators seem to be positing this moment in Asawa’s art education as foreshadowing elements that would appear in the looped wire sculptures for which she’s best known. Indeed, she established many of the key formal aspects of her work at Black Mountain College, in addition to significant artistic relationships (she met her husband at the school). Echoes of her dancer motif are apparent in her looped wire sculptures, and the notion of tenuous borders (figure/ground, inside/outside, hard/soft) carries through her life and art. However, this narrative neglects other foundational experiences — namely her memories of working on her family farm, where she would draw undulating, wave-like patterns in the ground with her toe as she rode on the back of a horse-drawn leveler, as well as her first art classes, which introduced her to the power of art, taught by former Disney animators and fellow internees while surrounded by soldiers and loops of barbed wire in a World War II internment camp.The iconic looped wire sculptures, based on a technique Asawa learned in Mexico in the summer of 1947, are the star of this show, and it’s a treat to see so many of them in one place. The seemingly infinite variations that she found within the limits of looped wire is staggering — the best reductive abstractionists can spend a lifetime trying to achieve the same thing. Some suggest stacks of vessels, simultaneously revealing their exteriors and interiors, along with the nested forms contained within. Others evoke a deep-sea invertebrate that one might encounter floating in the ocean, like the gorgeous “Untitled (S.039, Hanging Five Spiraling Columns of Open Windows)” (c. 1959–60), in which Asawa has transformed rigid wire into a spiral of delicate petal-like appendages.Ruth Asawa, “Untitled (S.250, Hanging Seven-Lobed Continuous Interlocking Form with Spheres in the First, Fifth, and Sixth Lobes)” (c. 1955), iron and galvanized steel wireI especially enjoyed the subtle variations in the color of the wire. This effect is particularly noticeable given that the sculptures are hung in groups throughout the exhibition. In “Untitled (S.250, Hanging Seven-Lobed Continuous Interlocking Form with Spheres in the First, Fifth, and Sixth Lobes)” (c. 1955), for instance, Asawa incorporates a variety of wire colors within the same work, adding another layer of complexity to her visual language. Later in her life she expanded this material exploration into a series of tied wire works, wherein bundles of wire are divided into smaller and smaller sections, starting from a central point. They poetically conjure root systems, snowflakes, fractal growth patterns, and the sensation of looking through a kaleidoscope.Asawa remains, alongside Ellsworth Kelly and a handful of others, one of the greatest draftspeople of plants, and the exhibition includes a large selection of drawings. Among her favorite subjects were plants and fruits from her garden and flower bouquets she received from friends and loved ones. The tender human quality of her line and deft organization of space is breathtaking, as seen in “Untitled (PF.222, Bouquet),” (c. 1990), a painstakingly detailed image of a bouquet that sits elegantly on the page. Another standout is “Untitled (WC.187, Two Watermelons)” (1960s), in which she renders the two melons by using alternating bands of green ink. These brushstrokes perfectly define the contours of the rounded forms while obscuring the boundaries between figure and ground.Installation view of Asawa’s life masks in Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMAThe hand-carved wooden doors from Asawa’s Noe Valley home and a selection of life masks she cast of friends and loved ones signal a transition into a gallery that is intended to resemble her living room. Like her home, it is filled with her own art and works made by friends. The white walls are covered with wood paneling and chairs are arranged on a rug so that visitors can sit and look up into a few looped wire sculptures that are hanging from the ceiling. While this installation is meant to express the warmth and openness of the artist’s domestic space, it comes across as forced and sterile. The photographs on view do a better job of showing the hum of life that constantly surrounded her and how her home was a nexus of community, family, and art making.This leads me to some critiques of the exhibition design — above all, it feels crowded, which is especially jarring when one compares the amount of space given to the work in the exhibition Freeform: Experiencing Abstraction on the same floor. It also seems to downplay the critical role racism played in her life and art practice, whether in terms of the art lessons she took from fellow internees or the racial prejudice that prevented her from completing her art education degree at Milwaukee State Teachers College, which led her to attend Black Mountain College. Installation view of Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMAI would love to have seen more attention and real estate given to the many public artworks she completed (often in collaboration with the local community), as well as her tireless advocacy for arts education at Alvarado Elementary School and at the public high school for the arts that now bears her name. While I appreciate the impulse to focus primarily on her artistic output, Asawa is also special because of the way she integrated so many roles into a multifaceted life in the arts. Acknowledging this in no way detracts from her legacy as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. In fact, it makes her accomplishments in each of these arenas that much more miraculous.In a 1948 letter, her future husband, Albert Lanier, wrote: “You give me the courage [to pursue a life in the arts] — just the word ‘Ruth’ gives me an ‘all is possible’ feeling.” And indeed this is what comes to my mind when I think of Ruth Asawa. Through forced internment, job discrimination, and the sexism, racism, and regionalism of the art world, she was continually told that certain paths were closed off to her. Despite this, she made an abundant life for herself filled with possibility. To anyone looking to create a rich and ethical life in the arts, Ruth Asawa showed us the way.Ruth Asawa, “Untitled (FF.1234, Paul Lanier on a Blanket)” (c. 1962–63), ink on technical paperRuth Asawa, “Untitled (BMC.52, Dancers)” (c. 1948–49), oil on paperRuth Asawa, “Untitled (S.268, Wall‐Mounted Tied‐Wire, Two‐Tiered, Center‐Tied, Five‐Petaled Form Based on Nature)” (c. 1968–69), bronze wireRuth Asawa, “Untitled (BMC.94, In and Out)” (c. 1948–49), oil on MasoniteInstallation view of Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMA. Left: “Untitled (S.395, Hanging Asymmetrical 23 Interlocking Bubbles)” (c. 1955), brass, galvanized steel, steel, bronze, and copper wire; right: “Untitled (S.776, Hanging Five‐Lobed Continuous Teardrop Form with Teardrops in the First Lobe, a Sphere in the Second Lobe, and a Continuous Form within a Form in the Fourth Lobe)” (1953), brass and iron wireRuth Asawa, “Untitled (S.529, Mounted Paperfold with Horizontal Stripes)” (1952), ink on paperRuth Asawa, “Mai Arbegast’s Sunflower (PF.277)” (1970s), ink on sketchbook paperInstallation view of Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMA. Left: “Untitled (S.183, Hanging Open Form with Five Upward Ears and Five Downward Tails)” (c. 1954), galvanized steel wire; right: “Untitled (S.236, Hanging Single‐Lobed Form with Eight Downward Petals)” (1950s), brass wireRuth Asawa: Retrospective continues at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 Third Street, San Francisco, California) through September 2. The exhibition was co-curated by Janet Bishop and Cara Manes, with Marin Sarvé-Tarr, William Hernández Luege, and Dominika Tylcz.