Sombra, more obviously than most of my work, is a study in dichotomy. The sculpture is cast in two very different metals: bronze, a non-ferrous metal oxidized by the application of various patina chemicals, and stainless steel, created from ferrous metal rendered immune to oxidation by the addition of chromium, a metal found naturally only in combination.

Philosophically, the sculpture portrays a creature of the air, master of soaring, messenger of the gods (the unconscious), casting a shadow across a meadow of grass and decaying logs. The Red-tailed Hawk is colorful and lifelike, a hunter in bronze, separated from the earth (and its own shadow) by a gleaming ribbon of polished bronze. The hawk's shadow is grey in areas, but illuminates the true nature of the earth in passing across it, showing budding grasses, rotting logs, and dirt.

In summary, we too can know our true nature and that of our fellow humans by illuminating or at least looking in the shadow cast by our egos.