Lawrence Stoller

“The beauty of Nature inspires the heart to pursue the nature of Beauty”

I was first drawn to working with crystals because of their beauty, mystery and mysticism. What started as a fascination lead me on a path through the verdant fields of mineralogy, technology, art, metaphysics and healing. I knew little about these sciences, or the arcane lapidary arts. My naiveite fueled by enthusiasm allowed me to bypass the conventional ‘wisdom’ of experts who said what I envisioned “can’t be done”. When my quest began, the only tooling for working hard gem minerals and crystals was designed by the jewelry industry, for small carat sized faceted stones. I wanted to work with crystals weighed in kilos. So, I set out to design tooling and developed techniques that ultimately led me to create several of the world’s largest gemstone sculptures. I was also intrigued by the esoteric conversations about crystals. I found that they are endowed by Nature with measurable life force, and the capacity to move electromagnetic energy as a result of their piezoelectric properties. Crystals are some of the densest Earth matter, and yet their bodies are transparent; an inorganic life form stamped by mystery, with portals to other realms. The original gateway to ‘getting stoned’. Because of their unique characteristics they are used in electronic components as well as being powerful tools in the hands of healers, meditators and dreamers. At the same time they are collected for their mineralogical rarity and aesthetic beauty. My initial interest was exclusively carving crystals. But I came to realize the uniqueness of each crystal requires many to be displayed with lighted bases. I found that the regal art of sculpted bronze was the way to go. Thus, I learned to combine the mediums of crystals, bronze and light. As I developed my knowledge and skills I was able to create works that traverse the multi-faceted crystal spectrum, giving me the opportunity to work with an array of fascinating people, (and other entities), with diverse interests.

Click on any image below to see an enlarged view.

In 2003, I completed a commission for American Express, creating the centerpiece of the 9/11 ‘Eleven Tears Memorial’, located across the street from Ground Zero. My collaborative work ‘Bahia’ stands as the cornerstone of the museum collection at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California.

There are two coffee table books of my work - “FROZEN LIGHT – The eternal beauty of crystals” and “PRIMAL BEAUTY– The Sculptural Artistry of CrystalWorks” – (a finalist in 2 national book awards competitions).

(All crystals pictured are natural earth minerals, carved with internally lit bases)

You can visit Lawrence’s website to learn more HERE. You can also view an Instagram gallery of his work HERE.