Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A. (1930-1993)

Frink's birdmen are 'fighter pilots fused with the elements of their planes. Their vulnerability is emphasised by the inadequacy of small wings that are more like flamboyant epaulettes than pieces of functioning equipment. Yet, although they seem bound to die, one feels little sympathy for these anonymous agents whose faces are hidden and whose bodies and minds seem immersed in their destructive roles' (see Sarah Kent, A Bestiary for our Time, published in Elisabeth Frink Sculpture, p. 58).