Originally, my inspiration for carving marble masks derived from learning of Pablo Picaso’s private collection of African tribal masks. And once I realized how he had incorporated those elongated and highly stylistic faces into his artistic journey – even to the point of painting over faces of existing artwork to stylize his new-found love of his many wooden masks, I thought ‘why not’? So, I did – the result of which you can judge for yourself, but I love their steadfast, almost stoic idealism. They project a sense of self and purpose into the room. And just for good measure, their eyes are carved so thinly that backlight illuminates them, giving them character and mood that changes with the day. These tall, upright carvings are meant to stand with their back to a window, giving them the benefit of natural light during the day, and lit from behind with a tight spotlight after sundown, when they will take on a most stunning effect – or not, if you wish to let them sleep. Then they will obediently ‘nod off’ quite peaceably.