As a child in the Second World War, Elisabeth Frink witnessed falling planes and burning soldiers in the airfield near where she lived. On a holiday in Devon she had hidden in the bushes to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of a battle. These visions haunted her sculpture which examines the human capacity for cruelty. She was taught by Bernard Meadows, one of the postwar artists whose sculpture is described as the ?Geometry of Fear?. Frink added pity to their images of alienation. Prisoner has a vulnerability that invites the viewer to feel for his situation.