In his earliest paintings and sculpture, Dial expressed the theme of continuous struggle through the iconic image of the tiger. The main protagonist in many paintings created from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, this wily trickster became the perfect embodiment of the quest for social progress. An avatar of the oppressed, Dial’s tiger is always trying to climb his way to freedom, slink past the gates of dominant culture, claw his way out of trouble, and land on his feet despite the dangers and indignities imposed on him.
