On the morning I hurry to If Not Now, When? at The Hepworth Wakefield, with its urgent request for my attention, I get the sense that time is rushing by as I recall the first time I visited the gallery over 10 years ago. Time is also a preoccupation for the artists who participated in two surveys – led by Lorna Green in 1988 and Griselda Pollock (alongside Green) in 2022 – into the practices, challenges and approaches of women working in sculpture. In their responses, they think about how seasons of caregiving can pause and propel, how the restrictions of gender can cause them to fall out of step with the contemporary art world and how time itself can interact with materials and making.
