Brian Kane -- Figura (2004), for solo piano
 
I present two quotes which indicate what I intend by the term figura:
 
“Several Figur'd Atomes well agreeing,
When joyn'd do give another Figure being.
For as those Figures joyned, severall waies,
The Fabrick of each severall Creature raise.”
-- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle
 
“As figures of the existing, unable to summon into existence the non-existing, artworks draw their authority from the reflection they compel on how they could be the overwhelming image of the non-existing. Artworks draw credit from a praxis that has yet to begin and no one knows whether anything backs their letters of credit.”
-- Theodor Adorno