LARRY GODFRIED

Larry Godfried

Artist Statement

While traveling in Puerto Rico in 1978, Larry Godfried entered a cemetery and his life changed. He met a man who made terrazzo head stones out of crushed minerals and cement. These were cast and ground down entirely by hand. Inspired, he returned home to New Paltz in 1979 and began to experiment with the technique he observed, and started teaching himself the obscure craft of precast terrazzo.

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Always attracted to furniture making, Larry’s early designs explored curvaceous shapes with inlaid

mosaic graphic images. In time, as he appreciated the technical similarities between cloisonné enamel jewelry and terrazzo, he began to study jewelry design and fabrication techniques. He created giant-sized polished jewelry pieces that double as contemporary furniture. This led to the “Furniture as jewelry” collection.

Terrazzo, probably the world’s oldest recycled material, has an ancient history. Larry loves to mix things up by creating modern references to classic Greco-Roman mosaic designs, as well as the rich

decorative patterns so prevalent in the Art Deco period.

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Larry has exhibited at trade shows in Cologne, Tokyo, and especially New York City. This has led to

several large commissions with Robert A.M. Architects as well as other design firms. It also led to a 10-year historic restoration project on the spiraling terrazzo floors of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. He does not install floors.​