Tuscon Gem Show: Part Four
The Fire Within
By: David Wilson - Feb 18, 2010
It's the interaction between light and gemstone that provides the vocabulary for our attraction to jewels and gemstones. Glitz, Bling and Flash describe how light is reflected off the stone. Fire describes a light that seems to come from within the most prized stones, the result of mineral content, shaping and skilled faceting.
There is a wide variety of display bases that project light up into the gem, most recently taking advantage of new LED lights of all colors. It takes only a minute shift of perspective to see these displays as decorative lamps.
Over the last few years at the Tuscon Gem Show we have seen a multitude of lamps created by installing light bulbs within a variety of hollowed, shaped natural minerals. While inexpensive, they create warmth and pleasant accents in many environments.
The popularity of the salt lamp is as much due to its rosy warm glow as it is to the claim that it generates healthy negative ions. Whether you prefer the natural irregular shaped crystals or the more recent, smooth sculptures in spherical and/or pyramidal forms, the clearer crystals, from the salt caves of Germany and Poland, or the more variegated ones from Pakistan, the light they produce is seductive and comforting.
Used as a night or accent light, lamps of carefully hollowed amethyst, rose, or natural quartz offer warm tones and a variety of mood choices. There are a number of options. Onyx is clear enough to generate light suitable for comfortable reading. Softly glowing banded onyx invites intimate conversation. Selenite, now rising in popularity, is promoted with the use of various colored Christmas tree bulbs for decorative purposes.
Almost every one of the 42 venues at the Tucson Gem Show has at least one display of one or all of the above. Pleasant as they are, by now, they present no novelty for the eye.
Coming upon the light sculptures of Hovave Rappaport is like stumbling upon Jack's beanstalk in the middle of your herb garden for he raises the art and the craft of creating gemstone lights to a new level.
An Israeli born artist, Hovave, as a young man worked in metal sculpture. Upon arriving in the US, in 1980, he had to abandon his art in to find a steady income. After the few years it took to get settled, he found became interested in the interaction of light and stone. He worked with soft stone such as banded onyx, granites, and marble, to create a variety of simple geometric containers with semiprecious inlays and installed light sources.
In the early '90s, living and working in California, an acquaintance asked if he displayed at the Tucson Gem Show. At that point, Hovave knew nothing of the show. With the encouragement of his acquaintance he called a Pueblo Gem and Mineral show promoter about displaying his creations in Tucson. The response to a description of his work was not encouraging. He persisted by submitting images and received an invitation to participate.
He sold out his entire inventory in a few days and has become a regular at the annual event. Now his work has been moved to the J&GM Exposition. Participating in these expositions led the discovery of vast resources. The great range of raw materials available in Tucson resulted in an immediate change in the work.
Talking with Hovave about the evolution of his conceptions we found him to be warm and accessible when discussing his work. Hovave described how he tries to represent the hidden form and beauty that lies within even the most common stone and unique qualities of each revealed component. Organic is not a term commonly applied to minerals but his creations are organic in form and conception. Each piece is an assemblage of base stone pared away to reveal a heart of crystal. The process offers us the promise of beauty hidden within.
He was quick to acknowledge that the support he had received from the lapidary community was an important contribution to developing his work. In particular, he cited the collaboration he now enjoys with Asherah, (aka Tina), and Danny Duke the people behind Gemstone Mineral Interiors. As importers and wholesalers of raw gemstone, and the driving force behind the J&GM Exposition, they are well suited to market Hovave's work. They provide him with a resource of material. As they interacted with each other during my visit, the sense of mutual respect and warm affection felt much like family.
Currently Hovave's work seems to be in flux again. Recent pieces use an increased varieties of gemstone. Fluorite with its varied colors and fluorescence seems to have captured his fancy.
Although the attached photos were shot under less than optimum conditions each of these creations achieves a level of expression strong enough to dominate any space in which they are placed. They range in scale from the smaller works, about 18" high, to ones that are several feet in height.
To view many of his earlier pieces visit:
http://hrmarblelights.com/
His ongoing and current offerings are viewable at:
http://g-mint.com/