The basis for this Op Art inspired work is the ability of both cartilage and linoleum to cushion mechanical stress. The matrix of knee cartilage, for example, is filled with elements that literally appear like small Christmas trees. The bristling needles all carry a charge that attracts water. When mechanical stress is applied (i.e. standing up), the pressure displaces the water, but since fluids are not compressible, the water cushions the body. Linoleum is a cork-based product. It too can be placed on hard floors, like cement, to cushion the body. The chambers of cork can likewise can hold and release water, although this is not the mechanism on which linoleum relies.
       This piece also explores the notion of the mandala. In Tibetan sand painting, a mandala is the creation of sacred space upon the ground or floor. Representing the totality of the universe with its gateways into the holy and its gatekeepers, the mandala serves the same purpose as the temple. It is the simulacrum of sacred space. Maintaining radial symmetry from its center, the figurative elements occur in fours as a representation of the four cardinal directions. The use of linoleum gives a nod toward the true stance of the piece on the ground. The use of a common element gives a nod to the notion that everywhere is the sacred center. The use of colors in the radial symmetry of the work's octagonal shape suggest the formed elements and directions, which make up the many pathways by which to approach the Holy.
       However, the stress lines of mechanical pressure cover the mandala. Although they possess bilateral symmetry, they no longer possess true radial symmetry. They move from the realm of unity into the world of opposites (man/woman, human/divine, day/night, black/white, etc.). However, they still create a well at the center from which the lines spring and into which they return.
       The undifferentiated matrix of the cartilage and the very floor on which we stand, then, contains the stress we create with each step in the temporal world, but it is simultaneously infused with the eternal sacred. The trick is how to balance our attention between the two.