There are a lot of opposing elements such as movement, space, proportion, and color in "Small Figure".  Having the child not centered in the space adds to the illusion of the figure along with the coat covered most of the figure's body. The messiness of the strokes brings movement to the work. One can almost imagine the artist hurriedly using her paint-stained fingers to complete the form. There are lines that look like they had been gone over multiple times outlining the sweater and its pattern. The messiest strokes are around the head, face, and hands. The hands look like explosions coming from the sleeves. This movement brings a lot of energy to a figure whose pose does not allude to very much motion at all. In other works such as, "Volcanic Eruption", Barnes is known for using a plethora of colors. In "Small Figure", however, those colors are absent. Instead, black is the only color added to the white surface of the paper. The movement in the work comes through solely with short quick lines from the artist's fingers. Fingers that move so fast they may look just like the hands in the painting, exploding outwards from the wrists. This movement is confined mostly to the figure and a small space surrounding it giving the viewer a sense of angry tension bubbling right under the surface. Beyond the figure in the background is the clear white sheet untainted by the black energy of the figure. These conflicting elements show the inner struggle with anger and powerlessness the artist may have felt around the time of her painting this work and working on her regressive therapy.