Although the forms in Untitled (040) are ambiguous, the shapes on the right can be read as bird-like. Cahén had a long-time interest in birds, painting roosters several times, and peacocks, doves, songbirds, and fantastical birds. Although he left no record of what birds meant to him, they fit with his frequent themes of growth, vitality, and freedom. Untitled (040) leaves the primed canvas showing as if it were paper. The diagonal thrusts of the centre lines and the slant of the other forms give the work a dynamic appearance, as if all the elements were in motion. Yet their careful placement with a balanced distribution of white space between each object suggests deliberate design, as if someone had hit a “pause” button at just the right moment, resulting in a suspenseful tension between movement and stasis, accident and intent.