Ibis Diptych

images: 4” x 3”

diptych formed in 2008

colored pencil, brass, zircon

Finally united in a private collection in 2016, “Ibis Diptych” consists of two identically framed images, of which only the brass liners and drawings are shown here.  I’m interested in the mystery of the sacred ibis from Africa in the left drawing, depicting a smiling mystic clutching an infant.  On the right, Raphael’s “Fornarina” painting becomes the basis for a play on the “Leda and the Swan” myth, as the scarlet ibis from South America perches on her head and treacherously brandishes its beak under her chin.