Pelagos

Mediums: elm and strings on oak base.
Location: The Tate Gallery (London, the UK).

From 1939, Barbara Hepworth, together with her husband Ben Nicholson, spent much time on the seashore in Cornwall. The power and strength of the sea elements made an enormous impression on the artist, and she created several excellent works during this period, including “Pelagos”, which in Greek means “sea”. The sculpture carved from wood has a round shape, the hollow middle part of which is twisted in the form of a spiral resembling a sea wave. In the very center of the composition, the artist used tightly stretched steel strings, which, according to Hepworth herself, symbolize the tension that comes from sea waves and coastal winds.