Wilke's experience of being a woman—bodily and socially—is at the heart of her work, from erotic sculptures made of latex and snaps to her works reflecting on illness, made while she was dying of cancer. This drawing from the 1960s includes imagery of genitals and upended backsides. Abstract but sexually suggestive shapes would become a hallmark of her later sculpture.
Gallery label from Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.