Adrian Saxe has made ceramic vessels that challenge traditional ideas about clay since the early 1970s. In particular, he often interprets and critiques social and cultural conventions though his forms. The artist's vessels combine various techniques, clay bodies, historical styles, and recognizable decorative elements into witty and sometimes subversive works.

Saxe’s vessels can often be ornate. Parisienne Chainsaw Massacre features gold luster and deep-hued porcelain glazes. The main body is in the form of a torso, a shape that Saxe used to great effect in monumental sculptures from the early 1980s. In addition to the chainsaw bands, the work is topped by an antelope finial. Saxe views the antelope as a symbol of nature's energy. His use of animal forms dates to the 1970s when he studied animals at the Los Angeles Zoo and also explored 18th-century metalwork and trophies.