In the 90's Lay explored the issues of environmental works: installations that create a dynamic dialogue between multiple sculptural elements and the space they occupy. The work encompasses a personal, abstract, vocabulary of forms concerned with the multiplicity of signs and symbols of social, cultural and spiritual meaning in counterpoint to forms referring to the natural world. The range of imagery is from organic, to calligraphic, to geometric. The imprint of human touch and the art making process are important to the work. The work draws inspiration from non-western art and artifacts. It is a cross-cultural fertilization that incorporates imagery and techniques from the cultures of the indigenous people of the Americas, Africa and Oceania. The work is a search for primal meaning, universal form; the means to access the subconscious spirit.