"Despite their idiomatic differences, Raymond McKenzie argues that the works of both Ian Hamilton Finlay and Stoddart combine formal and intellectual elegance with sharp, sometimes satirical critiques of contemporary society.Stoddart himself outspoken about Modernism, and its contemporary failures and historical misunderstandings, without hesitation, makes clear that his work stems from a Modernism born in neo-classicism, "And yet, after having said all this about Modernism, I consider myself a Modernist – but in the context of a vast application of the term extending miles beyond the pokey wee official area to which usually it is confined.