Making the familiar unfamiliar — in the spirit of Balthus and the unconscious awkwardness of the more eccentric of Quattrocento painters — Marcel Antonio uses much departure from conventional grace to emphasize disconcerting irrationality of human behavior. Antonio was interested in the structural relationship between groups of bodies and their integration with the landscape.
The figures remained like actors on a surreal stage. The inclusion of such storybook motifs such as birdmen, fruits and an exploding volcano shows that Antonio had moved away from purely representational themes and was prepared to include off-kilter storytelling touches to his work.