Expansion is the name of the masterpiece of the American sculptor Paige Bradley, whose work is said to be focused on tensions and liberation. Expansion is the name the sculpture that depicts a woman meditating in lotus position, while light bleeds out from the cracks of her body to reveal an inner light. Expansion is a piece of eternal truth that shows the human race as a singular individual searching for connection but finding only alienation. Looking at the marvelous sculpture, some only see a woman bleeding light, while others see a woman transcending and turning into the light with her inner power.

Born in Carmel, California Paige Bradley knew from her early age of nine that she would be an artist. Her fascination with the human figure began early, when she started drawing from the nude model by the age of ten. By fifteen, she was studying intensely at university campuses during the summer months and cast her first bronze sculpture at seventeen. She always believed that figure is the medium through which an artist could express a universal language that is timeless and essential.

Bradley believes that since our birth we have a body, which is a container built for us to fit inside and we are defined only by the containers, which has a gender, a race, a profession and an identity. However, that is the identification of the containers. But the important question is, whether we would recognize ourselves if we could expand beyond our bodies or whether we would still be able to exist, if we are authentically un-contained and come out of the container. Expansion is thus a sculpture bringing together the liberated and contained, exploring the relation between the body and the mind, meant to intrigue and provoke.

Paige Bradley conceived the idea of the sculpture, later named the Expansion, when she first moved to Manhattan. With precision and over several months, she created a perfectly good wax sculpture, the image of a woman meditating in the lotus position. But realizing that it would be difficult to find a place to exhibit the figurative arts, she just dropped it on the floor, destroyed what she created and it shattered into many pieces. It was a scary moment for her, but soon she realized that it would all come together as she envisioned. She then cast it again in bronze and placed the shattered remains of the initial version on top of it, by designing them to float near one another. After that, she brought in a lighting specialist and with his help built a crazy lighting system to make it glow from within.

Though highly interpretive, Expansion is perhaps one of the simplest and most appropriate representations of both true form and surreal representation. The iconic work by Paige Bradley was originally installed at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City, but now it is in a private collection.