Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.    Every gem has both geological history and emotional symbolism. How do you balance scientific accuracy with intuitive meaning when deciding which stones become pendants versus which remain untouched?

• ANSWER 2.   I approach each stone with the eye of an artist, mind of a geologist, heart of a shaman and tongue of a storyteller. Scientific accuracy matters in a market full of many frauds and deceptions; however, most people are not scientists. They care about beauty, meaning, authenticity, ethics, and story. My home is covered with stones going through cleaning, processing, sorting, and experimental arrangements. I meditate on many of them for months before cutting or setting, patiently waiting for the right inspiration or complementary stones to appear for a piece.

Eric Cifani
Miner, Lapidarist, Metalsmith, Educator

MEDIUM: Heirloom jewelry traditionally handcrafted from ethically self-collected natural minerals.

BIO:

WEBSITE: CifaniGem

QUESTION 3.    Precision is crucial in cabochon work, yet many stones form unpredictable internal landscapes. Can you recall a moment when a fracture, inclusion, or unexpected color shift transformed your original design into something more meaningful?

• ANSWER 3.    Millions of years of geology are gradually revealed during cutting and polishing. Our old mine was located on a fault with volcanic activity and an ancient geothermal source, producing a natural copper-bearing conglomerate of over 23 confirmed minerals all flowing together. You may start with green and end up with pink or blue. Most jewelers design metal first and then cut calibrated, uniform stones to fit; my process is the opposite. I freeform hand-cut shapes as found, then metalsmith a setting to complement. I never make nature conform to my design, we’re in deep collaboration. The work must be precise to safely capture the stone, which will tell you what it wants to become if listening. It shows in the final piece, people notice. My education is in ethnobotany (botany mixed with anthropology). I apply that same discipline to my art when interpreting and telling each stone’s story.

QUESTION 1.    When you reveal a stone’s inner pattern through cutting and polishing, what story do you feel you’re uncovering rather than creating, and how do you decide when that story is complete?

• ANSWER 1.    Nature is the creator; my role is to steward the land, seek, find, reveal, and arrange each piece in the spirit of Mother Earth’s unique gifts, co-creating one-of-a-kind natural works of art. I view myself as part of nature’s process. Lapidary is the art of uncovering Earth’s essence and history. Every pattern, plume, fracture, and inclusion is a memory of environmental conditions, pressure, heat, time, seismic shifts, and volcanic activity. Many stones have remarkable stories if you pay attention.

Laguna Lace Agate Mushroom pendant: made in our lapidary and metalsmithing class we teach at Burning Man.

Cifani pendant: handcut Columbia 23 mine copper-bearing mineral conglomerate: Christia Malachite and Cooper.

Love & Peace pendant: made from recycled bullet cartridge litter and turquoise I found at the mine.

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Eric Cifani.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

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