By accessing the bodies of an audience or in her conventional sculpture, the artist has always employed the figure. These works leave the frame entirely, and although some images may appear quite traditional, it has been said that this is the most radical area of her work. Phyllis Braff, in The New York Times, Sunday, May 5, 1991 wrote. “ The figure’ s rich historical and artistic associations make it the perfect vehicle through which to explore the inner and outer worlds of ourselves. In the midst of international concerns about bombing, destruction and refugees, the once-uneasy relationship between modern art and renderings of angst seems to have disappeared.”

Eleanor Heartney wrote in the Hofstra Museum catalog, 1991, “Since the Renaissance, the figure has maintained a special place in the history of Western art. A contradictory tradition, it may be employed both to celebrate our common humanity and to give expression to private fantasies and nightmares.”

Indeed, the figure in Thea’ s series Images of Transformation “reflects an embrace of the complexities and contradictions of human existence. The body shelters the self – a fragile vessel embarking on a fearsome journey toward spiritual discovery and transformation.”