Gary Haven Smith
Gary Haven Smith, who lives and works in his New Hampshire studio, is challenged by the massive ‘found’ or naturally occurring stone that surrounds his home. He describes the process of finding what the stone wants to do as “bumping shoulders with the stone.” This gracious approach opens a call and response creative process, where he is constantly listening to, and tuning, the material. The lyricism he discovers within the massive and dense rock is stunning; often he incorporates gold leaf which imparts an innate nobility and elegance. His large stone installation pieces, vertical structures that combine several stones, are honed to a fine patina on one surface and left raw and untouched on the other. They are exhilarating in their massiveness, and contemplative in their poise.
Haven Smith has exhibited his work throughout the northeast, in New York, and in Europe to wonderful reception. His work is in corporate collections such as General Electric, Fidelity Investments, Chase Manhattan Bank, Putnam Investments, and Healthsource, among others, as well as in numerous private collections and sculpture parks. He teaches in New England, New Mexico and in Italy.