Ruth Asawa at the DeYoung

I had the recent pleasure to visit the newly opened De Young museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate park. It is truly a modern architectural wonder designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron . The building is a significant piece of architecture, leading us into the new century of design and well worth a visit to San Francisco to see.

Once inside I was captivated by a sculptors work displayed in the concrete entry passage before the elevators to the 360 degree viewing room at the top of the tower of the museum. The passage rooms walls are raw, grey concrete which serve as a perfect backdrop to the breathtaking sculptures of the artist Ruth Asawa.

Organic forms, woven and sewn in metal, evoke the idea of underwater microscopic creatures floating above you. Beyond the stunning technical aspects of these forms is the magical shadows they cast against the neutral, roughly textured walls surrounding them. The work is both familiar and alien, earthly and dreamlike. They literally made my heart race.