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.

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)

A man passes at the displayed art installation “Middle way” by Romanian artist Bogdan Rata in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, November 20, 2018. The monument set on the central Kiev street of Khreshchatyk, at the place of Vladimir Lenin monument which was destroyed in 2013 during the Maidan events. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

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)

Justin Nelzen, in red vest, joins others as they work to rescue up to 70 horses along Cypresswood Drive near Humble along Cypress Creek, Monday, April 18, 2016, in Houston. More than a foot of rain fell Monday in parts of Houston, submerging scores of subdivisions and several major interstate highways, forcing the closure of schools and knocking out power to thousands of residents who were urged to shelter in place. (Photo by Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP Photo)

Mariana Sousa, student of the Ballet Paraisopolis, warms up during a rehearse in Paraisopolis favela, outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 27, 2020, amid the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The 200 ballet students of Paraisopolis, the second largest favela in Sao Paulo, restarted rehearsals after five months with a coreography about a police operation that put their community in mourning last year. (Photo by Nelson Almeida/AFP Photo)

A woman uses protection masks to cover her face as protestors from the Million Mask March and anti lockdown protesters demonstrate, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in London, Britain on November 5, 2020. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Normandie Amandine Petit (3rd R) celebrates after being elected Miss France 2021 in Puy du Fou, France on December 19, 2020. (Photo by Anthony Ghnassia/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)