Her work explores "organic geometric" forms in a variety of media, including wood, Plexiglas, Hydrocal, design cast, and steel.
Frankel earned her master's of fine arts degree at Columbia University.
While living in New York City, Frankel took a painting course with Hans Hofmann, where she was exposed to abstract impressionism.
Although she practiced regularly in the years following World War II, Frankel described herself and her work as "invisible" until her interaction with other women artists at the 1972 Conference of Women in the Visual Arts, which was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[4][5] This conference allowed women artists, including Frankel, to navigate professional vetting structures — known as slide registries — by which an artist's work became known to area galleries.
Her 26-year-old roommate, Julia Birch, confessed to suffocating her and was charged with first-degree murder.