My painting Ishmael now hangs alongside a powerful private collection of ethnic textiles and and ceremonial headgear from all over the world.

For me, the gathering of objects in this room resonates with the original religious use of the name Ishmael. In that use Ishmael was the son of Abraham and also a patriarch of Islam– in some way a bridge in the genealogy of several of the worlds great cultures. So it’s fun for me to see the painting resonating with these artifacts from very different places.

Particularly exciting for me is the Tibetan hunting tapestry that hangs nearby. I’ve long been working to make paintings that are true to the material fact of their textile underpinnings somehow. While it is difficult to say what success with that particular concern would be, I find the way the two large images work together encouraging.

Masks

A nearby shelf holds powerful objects worn by cultures from all over the world