Study for Hypatia, 1972

Rosemary Mayer, Study for Hypatia, 1972, Graphite on paper 35.5 × 27.9 cm

“Study for Hypatia” is part of a series of drawings that are diagrams of how to attach fabric to a wall and seem to be studies for the sculpture Hypatia (now lost), which is the first sculpture she makes in 1972. This sculpture is also important as the first that she names after a historic woman. Hypatia was a Greek philosopher, astronomer and mathematician who lived from ca. 350- 415 AD.
Formally, the work builds on the Veils and the other sculptures attached to the wall that she was making in 1971, but naming it after a historic woman gives it a new meaning. The work becomes less abstract and the fabric more connected to clothing and a bodily presence.