Hepworth was a pioneering figure in the rise of early twentieth century abstract art, whose signature style revolutionised modern sculpture. She was known for her 'pierced' forms, introducing holes and empty spaces into solid forms to examine the connection between art and landscape. Working mainly with stone, wood, and bronze, her works developed a new language of smooth, organic forms, punctuated by voids and openings, making her one of the first artists to treat the hole as an active rather than merely negative elemnets; a space through which interior and exterior forms could speak to one another.
While often discussed alongside her contemporary Henry Moore, her work moved toward purer geometric and organic abstraction less anchored in the human figure. Her careful use of texture, balance and form redefined sculpture as a thoughtful exploration of space, materials, and the human experience. Her late career explored large-scale public commissions that placed her work in landscapes and civic spaces worldwide, translating the spatial intimacy of her earlier smaller sculptures that were explored at a human scale. In treating space, void, and landscape as active sculptural elements, Hepworth permanently altered the terms on which abstract sculpture was understood.
