The front of the sculpture was formed by pressing moulded cardboard pulp into a cast taken from the
human body. The back of the figure is completed in earth, as is the base, which is integral to the
work.
Essence carries the sense of a person's selfhood, their inner and spiritual existence. Working through
that fundamental self, the sculpture refers to the society the individual is embedded in. Across a
life, however much a person is on a journey toward their own essence, they are also engaged in
concealing what is essential within the boundaries that surround them. The image associated here with
earth carries that act metaphorically: by invoking earth's capacity to cover and to bury, the
individual's effort to conceal themselves is expressed. A person hides their essence in order to hold
a place in society — but inside, the essence is unchanged.