The relief Study for Sculpture consists of an impastoed surface on which a 9 x 9 grid of eighty-one short cords is laid out. These cords are visibly knotted at the relief surface and at their ends. The entire sculpture is painted in opaque, matte gray, which unifies it but makes the cords' shadows seem eerily alive.

Study for Sculpture is one of several works that extend a formal vocabulary introduced by Hesse in 1965 and with which she experimented over two years. As a study, it tests an idea for further use in another context. Study for Sculpture, and other works like it, lead up to the relief Constant (1967). On a heavily impastoed surface, this work has a 19 x 19-inch grid of short, knotted rubber tubes.

However, Study for Sculpture is also an independent and fully developed work in its own right. Light and shadow are important in many of Hesse's works, as is the use of gravity as a shaping force. The minimalist grid in combination with the organic and random quality of the hanging cords reflects her interest in the tension between order and disorder.