Miles Van Rensselaer using everything from glass and crystal to bronze and iron, from gold and silver to tooth and bone, from steel, copper and lead to wood, clay, feather and hair. He has been fortunate enough to work – and humbled by working – with and among talented artists from all over the world. His work is his homage to these people and their vanishing ways of life, his translation of their technique, imagery, idea of “primitive” art into modern Western materials.

In this Friday, December 5, 2014 photo, Iranian volunteer Asal Moghaddam plays with dogs at the Vafa Animal Shelter in the city of Hashtgerd 43 miles (73 kilometers) west of the capital Tehran, Iran. More than 500 dogs find care and affection at the Vafa Animal Shelter, which was established through an endowment in 2004 and is the country’s only licensed animal refuge. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A veterinarian kisses an 8-month-old cat, wearing a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality, March 16, 2015. The cat's rear legs lost the abilty to walk after falling from the ninth to fifth floor of a building last November, its since undergone four major surgeries which included removing parts of its organs, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Two boys look out from the Mangueira slum towards the Maracana Stadium that is hosting the Rio's 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, August 5, 2016. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

A riot policeman watches as a police vehicle burns in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Rioters in South Africa set a police vehicle on fire Tuesday and stoned vehicles near a Johannesburg university that has been the scene of sometimes violent protests by students demanding free education. The violence broke out in streets near the University of the Witwatersrand at around the same time that student protesters met and marched off the campus, South African media reported. (Photo by Yeshiel Panchia/AP Photo)

Carolina Gutierrez (center L), 17, and Neuil Valdez, 18, use mobile phones to connect to the internet at a hotspot in downtown Havana, Cuba, December 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Revellers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, in the town of Ibi near Alicante, Spain, Saturday December 28, 2019. For about 200-years the inhabitants of Ibi annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers, outside the city town hall. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/AP Photo)

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)