Involute II

The mid-1950s was a highly creative and prolific period for Hepworth, when her work was beginning to receive international acclaim. It was in 1956 that she began to work in bronze, and the possibilities of working in the medium opened up a new world of opportunity, including the chance to create monumental work that had never been available to her before, as well as meeting some of the increased demand for her work.

The transition to working in bronze, alongside direct carving, was greatly facilitated by the fact Hepworth created her works in plaster before casting them, allowing her even more control than just carving in wood and stone. As J.P. Hodin comments, ‘The sensuous and organic qualities of marble, of stone and wood in general fascinated her to such a degree that she never expected to find, as she did in 1956, a way of working in metal which would give her the same feeling which she wanted to convey in her sculpture, the feeling of innate tactile experiences. But by cutting sheets of metal direct and working on them with file and abrasives so that the surface became personal, she was led on to a way of working directly in plaster which allowed her not only the fresh texture of paint and colour but also the rubbed and carved forms in contrast, which were connected in her mind with the process of fire and molten metal as well as the hardening process of its cooling. It was this that enabled her to evoke in bronze those images which belonged to the pattern of her carving’ (J.P. Hodin, Barbara Hepworth, London, 1961, p. 21).

‘Involute’ is defined in geometry as the locus of a point fixed on a straight line that rolls without sliding on a curve and is in the plane of that curve. Involute is a title shared by a number of carvings and bronzes executed by Hepworth in the 1940s and 1950s, that together form a loosely related group of works. Hepworth explored the theme with varying degrees of abstraction whilst never losing sight of the importance of the emotional relationship to the world around her, expressed through her work and engagement with the materials used.

What is most striking about Involute II is the relationship between form and space, the interior and exterior. Indeed, this became of utmost concern for Hepworth from 1931, when she first introduced the notion of the ‘hole’ in her work Pierced Form (destroyed during the war). From this point on the hole, or aperture became a defining characteristic of her work, which in turn transformed the notions of space and form in 20^th Century British sculpture. In Involute II Hepworth utilises the furled form with its enclosing, folded sides to reveal an open centre in which light can filter through. As seen in the present work, space is now inseparable from form, with the hollow centre highlighting the tension of volume in space and the delineation of line and plane. There remains a symbolic aspect to her work, with the curled form being indicative of the caves and waters of Cornwall where she lived, and the spiralled shell forms she found upon the shores. Alan Wilkinson reiterates, ‘Hepworth’s sculptures should be perceived as semi-abstract equivalents of elements of landscape and architecture, and of bodily sensations in relation to them. They are evocative rather than literal representations of the waves breaking on Porthmeor beach’ (A.G. Wilkinson, Barbara Hepworth, Toronto, 1991, p. 22).

Hepworth produced six bronze casts of Involute II, of which three are believed to remain in private hands.

We are grateful to Dr Sophie Bowness for her assistance with the cataloguing apparatus for this work. Dr Sophie Bowness is preparing the revised catalogue raisonné of Hepworth’s sculpture.