In this abstract canvas relief Don Peebles is exploring the relationships between shape, colour, real form and illusionist form. The large, circular 'loose' canvas is textured with intense opaque colour, applied thickly to create texture and illusion. Imbued with energy, the profusion of canvas, colour and movement creates a seemingly chaotic composition. Light and shadow, depth and surface, geometry and sensual expression all dynamically collide to create tension between painterly abstraction and elements of formal construction.

Peebles was born in Taneatua. Following service in World War II, he studied art in Florence, then at the Wellington Technical College School of Art. From 1951 to 1953 he studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney and in 1960 travelled to Britain. In 1965 Peebles was appointed to the staff of the University of Canterbury. He was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1999 for his services to New Zealand art and his work is represented in many public and private collections both in New Zealand and overseas.