During the early 1960s, sculptor Reg Butler made drawings that focused on a single pose—a basic twist or turn of the female body. Body parts, limbs, and non-essential forms are often edited out of his compositions. In this foreshortened view of a reclining nude, the volume and mass of the body are the subject. The figure floats on the sheet with the barest of indications of her surroundings. Portrayed is Ophelia, the intended mate of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who goes mad after he murders her father, and who eventually commits suicide. Butler’s drawing leaves it unclear whether the character is alive,dying, or already dead.