Ruth Aiko Asawa developed her undulating, crocheted forms by adapting traditional basketry techniques she learned from local artisans while visiting Toluca, Mexico, in 1947. This experience prompted Asawa to use wire to draw lines in three dimensions, creating complex, interpenetrating forms that incorporated the surrounding space, shadows, and light. The resulting sculptures transform wire, an ordinary, household object, into ethereal forms. As Asawa explained, "An artist is not special. An artist is an ordinary person who can take ordinary things and make them special."