Jesús Moroles’ works achieve a poetic resonance of material, form and motif. Working exclusively with granite, a stone of great density, hardness and weight, Moroles combines cutting and polishing techniques with the natural presence of the stone to create works of universal stature. Trained formally in the United States, Moroles also spent a year in the quarries in Pietra Santra, Italy. The sculptor feels granite is “the core and heart of the universe.” Abstract in form, the granite works are a confluence of references and metaphors drawn from the landscape and from human interaction, as well as ancient cultures. Moroles’ sculptures range from very small assemblages to massive installations and environments he calls “sacred spaces.”

Working with the granite medium, Moroles follows the natural inclinations of a particular stone by driving wedges into the raw granite and allowing it to create its own fissure, thus creating objects of pure formal beauty through harmonization. Moroles explains, “My work is a discussion of how man exists in nature and touches nature and uses nature. Each of my pieces has about 50 percent of its surfaces untouched and raw—those are the parts of the stone that were torn. The rest of the work is smoothed and polished. The effect, which I want people to not only look at, but touch, is a harmonious coexistence of the two.

Moroles refers to the hard stone as if it were alive, saying that when he visits a quarry to select his materials, certain pieces of granite speak to him and beckon him to take them home, though it may be years before they reveal their secrets to the artist. In this manner, Moroles is aligned with many ancient cultures that have attributed great powers—from magical energies to fertility and healing—to stones.