Simurg (Khotan Carpet Series)

Oil on canvas, 71 x 50 cm, Private Collection, USA

Khotan’s carpets depicting magnificent birds have become a symbol of this famous Silk Road city, and are known the world over. In this painting, I imagined how it all began. Large birds of all types—peacocks, roosters, and simurgs (the mythical bird of the East)—flew to Khotan many years ago. Fed by the children, everyone fell in love with them.