Blueprint for a Plumb Line (2009), is a work on paper inspired by Judith Shea's own cast bronze work entitled Post Balzac (1990), now sited in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Shea's approach involves the study of High Renaissance sculpture from Bernini and Michelangelo to the father of modern sculpture, Auguste Rodin. Rodin's monument to Honore de Balzac, commissioned in 1891, drew criticism for its lack of aggrandizement, favoring instead to depict the famous writer in a robe and without the imposing pedestal expected of most classical sculpture. In Post Balzac, Shea removes the figure of Balzac and leaves only the robe; thereby investigating both the structure of clothing and its representation of the individual. In Shea's cleverly titled, Blueprint for a Plumb Line, she commemorates Post Balzac in a faux-architectural rendering that reinforces the structural aspects of clothing while reinforcing her interest in its classical origins.

Source: Newws, January February March, 2010.