In Z.S. Liang’s Sacred Light, it is the background that becomes darker and more abstract as you move from the bottom of the canvas to the top. This makes the light on the buffalo skull appear that much brighter. This effect not only brightens the skull, it frames the man’s face in a circle made of skull, arms, headdress and buckskin shirt. Sacred Light is filled with subtle, painterly masterstrokes: the limited palette keeps the eye on the work, the beadwork on the moccasins adds interest, and the long grass strokes at left draw the eye back to the figure.

-James D. Balestrieri