From the onset of the 1960s to the early 1970s, Le Va’s works were primarily intimate in scale and composed of limited materials. In late 1969, he began to consider different tools that might serve as proxies for his body in its impact with the built environment. In the mid-1970s there was a visible shift as the sculptures began to activate both floor and wall, and non-traditional materials such as blown chalk, smashed glass and meat cleavers become signatures of Le Va’s practice.

Le Va’s sculptural works are generally the result of an active process of distributing, spilling, scattering, blowing, layering, dropping, and throwing. The distribution of materials allows them to unfold in situ, in sequence and in relation to other conditions, over time. The randomness of the glass’s shatter pattern contrasts with the methodical placement of the felt, aluminum bars, and ball bearings, balancing control and chaos. The work ultimately rejects what Le Va called “eye intimacy,” or “a virtual stroking of the retina by the precious art object.”