The birth of Cooke’s sculptural works dates to c.1960-70s during the period when the artist was in Holland and making paintings based on couples, in particular Sonja [Landweer] and the artist himself (See, Profile: Barrie Cooke, Gandon Press, 1998) Out of this investigation into relationships developed a study of bones, their form and the interlinking of male and female bones sockets. Slow Dance II, 1976 dates to this period in the artist’s oeuvre when he began to place his works into ‘boxes’. Cooke explains that the works were contained in this manner for two reasons, "...they were very difficult to place and they were so naked and so smooth, like an eyeball, they needed to be protected." In 1976 the David Hendriks Gallery played host to an exhibition of Cooke's works resulting from his three month stint in the equatorial forests of Malaya and Borneo. This exhibition comprised oils, watercolours and one sculpture, Forestry Box. These works formed part of Cooke's interpretation process of what he described as the "complication and vitality of what [he] experienced there." The intense environment and very complex eco-system stimulated a hard-edged reaction from the artist who described it as, "All forming; all adjusting; all competing; all supporting." The principal concern within his body of work following this exposure was the exploration of form. The cyclical natural world and all its shapes was what Cooke was attempting to capture. Cooke’s ‘Boxes’ were revisited in his 1981 exhibition entitled, 'Boxs - 10 Years, Barrie Cooke' where they were described by Frances Ruane as reminding her of "rare archaeological finds…haunting time capsules…[where]…The earth is one of the dominating motifs ... with strong associations with burial and decay, but...also the source of growth and regeneration." Plastic box measures 4.5ins deep.