Page 44 - Studio International - June 1966

is what she imposes upon the block and not what it sug- the sense both of interior and of through-going space, is
gests to her that is the basis of her sculpture. She has the intellectual in its conception but intuitive in its per-
idea, works it out—a rigorous intellectual procedure— formance.
then she orders the wood or stone and carves it. Modifica- Conceptual rigour, sensuous handling—each restraining
tions occur during the process of sculpting, but there is and counter-balancing the other—these are Hepworth
no reliance upon, or welcoming of, creative accidents; qualities. The meaning of the sculptures is often in that

neither is her work schematic, a translating of diagrams. apposition. An examination of her work methods shows
In her stringed pieces, for instance, she works by eye and them to be processes of refinement. See, for instance, the
not by mechanical measure. The characteristic way in various studies for Meridian (State House, Holborn, 1960)
which she opens forms, piercing the block, so as to give and the completed sculpture. She simplifies and essen-