A large square pastel composition of considerable visual richness — one of the most elaborately worked surfaces in the pastel series. The composition is organized around two large diagonal bands that cut across the picture field from upper left to lower right: one in dark gray-black pastel, the other in pale blue-green, their edges described in black, creating a geological cross-section quality — these are strata, tilted layers of rock or sediment seen in cross-section.
On either side of these bands, the picture field is populated with a variety of forms: floating oval and circular elements in pink and orange, each outlined in a contrasting color, suggesting the micro-world of cells or stones; scattered green marks in the East Asian botanical vocabulary; yellow pastel areas providing warm contrast to the cool grays and blues.
At the center of the composition, a small yellow bird — barely four marks, identified by its outline and posture — sits at the junction of the two diagonal bands. This bird, as in the Three Color Marks (777) and the Color Drops (780), transforms the abstract field into a landscape: the geological strata exist in a world where birds land.
The red pastel at lower center — energetic, scribbled marks — provides the warmest and most physical zone in an otherwise cool composition, anchoring the lower portion with heat against the geological gray.