Like many contemporary sculptors, martin puryear, as seen in his old mole, seems to be askingquestions about:
(a) the representation of the animal form(b) the symbolic meaning of death(c) the symbolism of shape(d) the representation of color

c) the symbolism of shape

Explanation:

Old Mole, as other Puryear's art sculptures, is an abstract representation and the analysis of the symbolic representation.

When we see the theme and look closely the sculpture, we can clearly see a symbolic representation of the shape of the mole's head and torso emerging from the earth.

This large cedar sculpture is a shape study of the symbolic form of the tunnel animal we know.