Cultural objects can be inspiring—especially other cultures’ objects. They also can be easily appropriated, and it’s often hard to tell where influence ends and theft begins. That said, the two simultaneous exhibitions at Linda Durham Contemporary Art share thematic ties, stark beauty and a complicated Asia fetish.

Let me begin with the words of one contemporary philosopher: “There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Every town has a biographer, and painter Jerry West comes by the role of Santa Fe’s biographer naturally. Over dinner, the entirety of our conversation revolved around the history and geography of New Mexico. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of history and lineage.