Sea Form (Porthmeor) 1958

'I had ... become bewitched by the Atlantic beach. The form I call Porthmeor is the ebb and flow of the Atlantic.' This is ‘Sea Form (Porthmeor)’ by the English sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975). Cast in 1958, it’s one free-standing form with three circular holes. The sculpture extends horizontally (known as ‘diagonal emphasis’). Does it remind you of anything? To me, it looks similar to a seashell that has washed onto the shore of a pebbly beach. The surface is mostly smooth, though there are several areas of rough texture. It’s green, grey, and white in colour – three shades that we associate with the crashing waves. This is further supported by the energetic dappling across the surface. I can almost hear the roar of the sea! Together, these features create a natural and organic impression. It’s almost as if the piece has just been unearthed from the bottom of the ocean. Yet ‘Porthmeor’ was carefully crafted from bronze and placed on a wooden base. Hepworth took inspiration from the coastline and cliffs on the Penwith Peninsula near St Ives, Cornwall. The rugged landscape was close to her studio, which was a hub for the artists belonging to the St Ives School during the Second World War. Tragically, she would eventually die in her studio due to a fire in 1975. Why do you think so many artists turn to nature for inspiration? Are there any locations or landscapes that speak to you personally?