Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth

Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903-75) was born and raised in Wakefield, and became one of the twentieth century's most eminent international sculptors, shaped by her early years in Yorkshire which she says 'discipled me to the life of form and sculpture'. Hepworth is best known for creating beautiful, flowing and rhythmic sculptures in wood, marble or bronze, often influenced by the organic shapes and contours of nature.

Hepworth is known for her pierced shapes, and her most famous works include Single Form, which is in the United Nations Plaza in New York, and Winged Figure, on the side of the John Lewis department store in London.

Maria Blaisse

Maria Blaisse was born 8th May 1944 in Amsterdam. She graduated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy Amsterdam 1968. Two years later she was a participant in the design studio of Jack Lenor Larsen New York. After this she did research on traditions of

textile techniques and natural dyeing of fibers in South America for 2 years.

From looking at her work, you can see it has a very strange costumes and sculptural feel to it. In many cases, it is difficult to determine which is in control: the body or the form, (Often it looks to be a little of both.) Blaisse resides firmly between the disciplines of art, design, textiles, and fashion. Her work is an investigation of form and material.

A lot of her work has a strong element of design, art and movement and is composed of five delicate structures that stand as costume and sculpture, expanding, contracting, bouncing and shifting, easily manipulated during improvisations and performances, exploring the body as a critical element in the animation of material and form.