The name is taken from a town in Brittany that Chillida visited with his family. There, the artist conceived the idea to investigate another way of achieving spaces and volumes—a process triggered by his discovery of an ancient axe while out for a walk. The object had a great attraction for Chillida. Before purchasing it, the artist already knew what he would use it for. He was anxious to return home, make some cuts in the metal and fold it over itself to create an interior space. The result was the sculpture Locmariaquer I, Homenaje a René Thom (Locmariaquer I, Homage to René Thom), dedicated to the mathematician who developed catastrophe theory.

Throughout the entire series that emerged from that first piece, Chillida envelops space with sheets of metal, surrounds it and gives it meaning and an identity. Following one’s gaze along the various folds in the material reveals the game that Chillida was bent on playing in his work.