Lauren S. Thompson designs modern relics of ‘Tetrastella’ with sacred geometry

"My creative philosophy is to connect deeply, with others and with myself – the art is just a result of this connection," conveys Los Angeles-based artist Lauren S. Thompson. Emanating serenity and stillness, her inaugural collection titled Tetrastella condenses her spiritual experiences into geometric works of sculptural art. Conceived in solitude during the summer of 2020, Tetrastella is the product of the artist’s disconnect from cyberspace and an immersion in nature and familial bonds.

The collection consists of a side table, three art pieces and a bench in three different sizes, crafted with premium granite for its bold and enduring nature, creating the duality of a striking visual impact and a cool, calming presence.

Thompson’s love for material exploration is conspicuous in the conceptual development of her designs, where she shapes the tangible matters of paper, cardboard and clay with the intangible emotions of love, joy and pain. As she shapes her feelings and experiences with her intuition and energy, she connects with material experts to solidify her design and its details. Prior to her design ventures, Thompson’s knowledge of material science and its applications led her to explore craftsmanship and work with concrete materials. Along with being an artist, she is also the founder of the wellness collective Pausa LLC, guiding people in breath therapy for their mental, physical and spiritual health.

"Tetrastella was born during a liberating chapter of deep reflection and meditation," says Thompson, as she taps into the spiritually symbolic depth of sacred geometry, which signifies the human body, heaven and earth. "This resulted in not only Tetrastella but endless ideas and creations that are still developing, which I credit most to simply quieting my mind," she adds.

The Tetrastella collection comprises the primary piece, the Tetrastella side table made from partially intersecting two tetrahedron triangles with their tips, taking the form of a star tetrahedron. "I had no idea at the time of creating Tetrastella that its shape translates to divinity and divine purpose," says the American artist on the geometry of the sculptural designs. The scaled-down version of the table design is the Tetrastella Mini, an art piece with the same geometric design. Adding an octahedron in the middle transforms the Tetrastella table into the two-stacked Totem, an art piece that exhibits symmetry and balance.

Introducing another octahedron in the mix and playing with the sizes and orientations of the four shapes culminates into a three-stacked Totem, achieving balance with an orderly rotation of objects on their central axis, with evident edges and corners highlighted by light and shadows. The Tetrastella bench is made in small, medium and large sizes, featuring an asymmetrical version of the Tetrastella table as its legs—its seating forming an elongated hexagon. All the furniture designs are available in 26 distinct stones with unique colours and patterns, enhancing the character of the space with their unique personalities.

The collection is a collaborative effort between the artist and the Indian natural stone processing company Tab Surfaces, which produced all the product designs and art pieces for Thompson from their base in Bangalore. The process involved close communication and iterative feedback between Thompson and the artisans from India, ensuring precision in crafting and the tactile essence that the pieces demanded. The artist joyfully worked across the continents amid the difficulties arising due to the time difference, as she insisted on high-quality materials, authenticity and innovative design. "From the quality of the materials to the vast selection of stones, the attention to detail and the warm hospitality, my experience in fabricating my work in India and with Tab has been nothing short of spectacular," says Thompson, looking back at the journey of realising Tetrastella.

Thompson manifests sculptural and spiritual relics of the modern with the Tetrastella collection, striving to bring joy to people through the purposeful integration of spirituality in art. "When spending time around or meditating on a Tetrastella, divinity radiates and one's intuition is purified," says the artist as she underlines her creative philosophy, "If my art can assist in a single person taking the time to authentically and intentionally connect and reflect, I am more than satisfied," she adds. As Thompson looks ahead at what is in the offing for her young practice, she envisions a subtle, softer evolution of her distinctively sharp and straight geometrical art.

(Text by Bansari Paghdar, intern at STIR)