Along with his colleagues Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures in American design during the postwar era. While textile design was the primary focus of Girard's oeuvre, he was also admired for his work in the graphic arts as well as furniture, exhibition and interior design. Girard brought a sensuous playfulness to twentieth-century design that had been absent from the austere aesthetic of classic modernism.

Girard devoted the same level of attention to every visible surface in an interior. Ceilings, walls and floors were treated with great care and coordinated with the moveable objects in the room. The Metal Wall Reliefs are decorative examples of wall decorations created for The Compound restaurant and his own house in Santa Fe. Selected in cooperation with the Girard family, the Sun and Heart motifs are made of robust metal materials.

Alexander Girard was educated in Europe as an architect. Returning to the United States in 1932, his designs defined a new kind of "opulent modernism", a look that became synonymous with 1960s America. His pioneering work in fabric design as well as his innovative commercial and residential interiors, captivated the public with their theatricality. Girard described himself as "a reasonable and sane functionalist, tempered by irrational frivolity."

The Metal Wall Relief Sun is made of brass, including the assembly materials. It is raw brass, and is meant to patina over time. Included in the box are white cotton gloves, to handle the disk while unpacking and hanging, so as not to leave fingerprints.