In front of the lobby of the Department of Energy‘s James V. Forestal Building, a low-rise Brutalist office building in Washington, D.C., is Robert Russin‘s Chthonodynamis sculpture carved from a single block of Norwegian granite.

Chthonic is derived from Ancient Greek meaning earth or soil. Dynamis (dunamis) also comes from Ancient Greek and refers to power and potentiality. Together, they form Russin’s description of the worldwide hunger for energy (“Earth Energy”). The sculpture depicts energy inside a hollow sphere, with the figure of a man attempting to contain it.

The 10-foot sculpture was installed in 1992. Russin was an American sculpture from Wyoming who created a number of public sculptures throughout the United States.