Stephen Hawking quintessentially represents one of the paradoxes of the human condition: the ability to travel the universe in one’s mind, and yet a simultaneous restriction to the physical confines of the body.  In this piece Hawking passes into an ethereal existence, escaping from the fire, the vortex, and the black hole.  The fire surrounding Hawking marks the conversion of matter into energy, body into spirit.  While Hawking’s ascent represents a liberation from the corporeal, the sculpture’s pewter finish is intended to create a sense of massiveness; the contrast between the work’s surface and what is depicted reinforces the tension between physical restriction and mental freedom.