An action figure with a toy raven's skull as a head is cast in bronze. The enigmatic figure teeters on its heels, perched like a bird on a short bronze branch. In this work, the artist draws on the themes of darkness, intelligence and mystery often associated with the raven. Intersecting these with the idea of childhood toys lends humour but also an edge to the notion of play.

"I believe that play and creativity have a fundamental relationship. Playing with materials, forms, scale, texts, objects and toys are the threads that I work with in the studio in attempting to weave new forms." P. Roch Smith

Smith received a BFA (Honours Sculpture) from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 1997 and an MFA from York University in 2003. A teacher as well as an artist, he has taught classes at the University of Waterloo, ECIAD and York University. He currently manages and operates the bronze and aluminum foundry at York University. Smith has exhibited throughout Canada and in the US and his work is included in private, corporate and museum collections in British Columbia, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York.