Andreas and Naomi Kunert's stone art featuring swirling patterns
Stone is often perceived as the Earth’s most immutable element—cold, static, and unyielding. Yet, in the hands of Andreas and Naomi Kunert, this heavy medium undergoes a profound alchemy. It softens, swirls, and seems to breathe. Based in Oregon, the duo behind “Ancient Art of Stone” does not merely stack rocks; they orchestrate flow. They erect megalithic circles that echo the timelessness of Stonehenge and compose murals where marble and basalt ripple like distant galaxies.
Their work invites the viewer not just to look, but to listen to a primordial language. It is a dialogue between the density of matter and the lightness of spirit, a testament to a creative partnership that transcends the boundaries of traditional craftsmanship.
The Kunerts’ creations are characterized by a kinetic energy that defies the weight of their materials. Smooth river stones, jagged slate, and luminous crystals are fitted together in intricate mosaics that mimic the movement of wind, water, and the cosmos. The effect is often immediate and visceral.
Andreas and Naomi recall an encounter with an older gentleman who, upon walking through their gallery studio, found himself moved to tears. “I feel like I’ve just walked into a church,” he confessed, overwhelmed by the atmosphere. “It just feels so sacred in here.”
According to Naomi, this resonance is intentional. It is the result of the artist’s spirit permeating the stone. “Where we come from in our own spirit and heart connection and our intention for the Earth and humanity makes people feel that,” she explains. The stone becomes a vessel for healing, radiating a sense of wellness that touches the observer on a cellular level.
The genesis of this artistic union reads like a mythic narrative, woven from threads of trauma, healing, and precognition. Both artists grew up immersed in the raw beauty of the natural world—Naomi on the vast prairies of Saskatchewan, and Andreas in the dense forests of Vermont. However, their paths to the stone were paved with personal trials.
Naomi, a Fine Arts graduate in sculpture and painting, turned to Native traditions and ancient ceremonies to heal from thyroid cancer. It was during this period of restoration that she discovered the “first spirit” of the Earth: stone. “It was so magical,” Naomi recalls. “I started having real experiences of connection with the spirit through the stone.”
During this spiritual deepening, she began to dream of a man she had never met. The dreams were specific, detailing his lineage, his mastery, his Germanic-Russian roots, and his location on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Driven by these visions and a synchronized call to a friend, she traveled to the coast. There, at a gathering she hadn’t planned to attend, she saw him.
“I recognized him immediately,” Naomi says.
For Andreas, meeting Naomi was a lifeline. A skydiver in his youth, he had survived a catastrophic accident at sixteen where his head struck a plane’s tail and his chute failed. The resulting injuries ravaged his nervous system and memory. “It’s very hard to have no memory and be sensitive and be so different,” Andreas admits. Naomi’s presence and the wisdom she carried became a stabilizing force, helping to restore his faculties and ground his genius.
If Naomi brings the intuitive and the dream-state to their work, Andreas brings a savant-like perception of structure. He possesses an innate ability to see the “sacred geometry” that underpins reality—the mathematical ratios found in the unfolding of a fern, the spiral of a hurricane, or the arrangement of sunflower seeds.
“I was born with the ability to see sacred geometry,” Andreas explains. “I see that… I can see it in a landscape, and I can especially see it if we’re going to arrange stones.”
Long before he knew the terms “Fibonacci sequence” or “Golden Ratio,” Andreas felt these patterns in his hands. He works with a tactile intuition, closing his eyes to feel the shape of the stone and knowing exactly where it belongs in the grander design. This adherence to universal proportions connects their work to the great architectural masters of history, from the builders of Gothic cathedrals to the Renaissance visionaries like Michelangelo. It is an attempt to create art that affects the viewer at a core, foundational level by mirroring the very DNA of nature.
The Kunerts refer to their commissioned pieces as “soul portraits.” These are not merely decorative walls or fireplaces; they are deeply personal reflections of the people and communities they are built for. Naomi uses her intuition to read a client’s energy, determining which crystals, stones, and forms will bring balance and harmony to their lives.
“It’s very important that we never create anything just to be pretty,” Andreas asserts. “It always has an important meaning behind it.”
This philosophy transforms the installation into a living entity. Clients often report that the work seems to evolve over time, revealing new nuances and evoking different emotions as days turn into years. Whether it is a private residence or a massive public installation—such as their current ten-acre project involving gigantic megaliths—the intention remains the same: to foster well-being.
The process of birthing these structures is physically demanding. Andreas speaks of the toll taken by moving earth and stone, a labor so intense it “nearly killed” him at times. Yet, the spiritual reward outweighs the physical pain. He compares the artistic process to parenting—a mix of struggle and unconditional love.
This connection to the cycle of life was reinforced recently as Naomi watched their newborn daughter sleep. In a profound vision, she saw galaxies swirling in the space occupied by the child. “It showed me we are the stars—we are all of it, it happens right here,” she says.
It is this realization of interconnectedness that Ancient Art of Stone seeks to materialize. Through the heavy, silent medium of stone, Andreas and Naomi Kunert carve out a space for the spirit to speak, creating art that is not just seen, but deeply felt.
Joining Shen Yun in 2007, Angelia Wang (b. Xi'an, China) represents a benchmark in the…
"We're a team." It is a simple phrase, just three words, yet it holds more…
In the high-stakes theater of grand opera, survival requires a bifurcation of the self. For…
They say the second year of marriage is defined by cotton. It sounds simple, almost…
Two decades together is no small feat. It is a milestone that speaks to patience,…
poems The Merchant of Venice Student Edition---PDF and Complete TextThe water in Venice is never…
There is a specific kind of silence that settles in the garden after a loss.…
There is a specific kind of magic that happens when a photographer doesn't just capture…
In the ancient Italian town of Santarcangelo di Romagna, where history clings to the cobblestones…
The Princeton Club of New York, usually a bastion of quiet networking, recently became the…
A decade together is no small feat. It’s ten years of inside jokes, shared silences,…
In the vast and fragmented linguistic landscape of China, the spoken word has always been…
In an art world often preoccupied with jarring intellectualism or the pursuit of hyper-realistic technicality,…
For Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, the Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang Associate Curator of Chinese Paintings at…
I still remember watching you when Grandma passed away. I saw how deeply you mourned,…
There is a distinct difference between seeing a moment with your eyes and seeing how…
Clothing has never been merely about protection against the cold. Across five millennia of human…
The first year of marriage is often a whirlwind of emotions. It is a period…
Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that "Earth laughs in flowers," a poetic sentiment that reverberates…
There is a specific gravity to a poem carried in the pocket. It is different…
Mother’s Day is approaching, and if you are miles away from the woman who raised…
Winter has a way of changing the landscape of our lives, not just the view…
The allure of Japanese art often lies in its masterful negotiation between the void and…
There is a distinct fairy-tale quality to the work of Lison de Caunes, a resonance…
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) remains a titan of English letters, a figure whose life spanned the…
I was thinking today about how much ground we've covered together. You know, between two…
There is a paradoxical nature to porcelain. In its raw state, it is dense earth;…
The sonnet is not merely a form; it is a vessel for concentrated thought. To…
The intersection of heritage craftsmanship and avant-garde installation art often yields the most compelling dialogues…
I've been thinking a lot about the power of visibility lately, especially as we celebrate…