Throughout his career, Lynn Chadwick’s work drew upon the natural world. His sculptures were largely based on the human figure or animal forms. Though he would insist on the primacy of formal and technical concerns, in both animals and humans he seems to express the fundamental conditions of life. While the animals explore states of aggression and vulnerability and the ambiguity between the two, the later figures examine details of human movement, interaction and sexuality. Chadwick’s work seems archetypal, an aspect amplified by his later use of standard forms for male and female heads. He became engrossed in creating sculpture of internal tension and outer strength. Chadwick's approach to sculpture is based on construction rather than modelling. He first makes a linear armature or skeleton on to which he applies a skin, building up the surface to a solid form. Earlier works featured a more textured finish. Aggressive bird-like creatures began to emerge, perhaps symbolizing the experience of war and its aftermath. Gradually the dramatic, troublesome aspects of these forms were weakened as smoother surfaces and less aggressive visual imagery materialized. The evolution of Chadwick's human and animal forms grew more harmonious. Stylistic formulas of pyramids and wingspans were reduced to anecdotal, almost sentimental symbols: seated couples, walking figures or standing forms, reminiscent of gentler imagery.
