Lotus Sculpture

Lotus Sculpture
Lotus Sculpture, LLC is a fair trade business entity that sells Hindu and Buddhist statues worldwide. The company primarily offers handcrafted, not manufactured, metal, wood and stone carvings that represent Hindu gods and representations of the Lord Buddha. Although based in the in the United States, the company purchases one-of-a-kind statues directly from artists and carvers in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia (Bali) without the use of middlemen.
Origins and History
Lotus Sculpture was officially founded in October 2001. The operation began humbly inside a 900-square foot basement in Greenwich, Connecticut.
In 2004, Lotus Sculpture was granted membership into the Fair Trade Federation upon recognition of their adherence to fair trade principles such as living wages paid to artisans, transparency, and direct and long term trading relationships. The company, as of January 2011, remains registered with the Fair Trade Federation.
In April 2010, Lotus sculpture moved its main operations to Oceanside, California. The move also signaled an expansion to the company, as the California facility was over five times more spacious than the previous headquarters in Greenwich, CT.
Owner
Lotus Sculpture founder Kyle Tortora began the company after leaving his job as a website salesman in New York. After selling his belongings, he took his first trip to India. In India, Tortora was inspired by the discovery of South Indian stone and bronze, and had dreamed of bringing statues like the one he saw of Lord Nataraja back to his home in the United States.
Locations
Lotus sculpture continues to maintain two point-of-sale locations in the United States, with the main operations taking place in California. In California, the viewing gallery is open for business during set hours. The Greenwich, CT gallery allows individuals to view the Hindu and Buddha sculptures by appointment only.
Lotus Sculpture also maintains a significant online presence. The company’s 1000+ page website and eCommerce store offers Hindu and Lord Buddha sculptures in a variety of media, as well as information on the history of Hinduism and the traditional arts used to fashion the sculptures available in their online store.
As of January 2011, Lotus Sculpture did not regularly attend trade shows, fairs, or festivals. However, it has been a consideration of owner Kyle Tortora to attend such events and sell the unique Lord Buddha and Hindu god sculptures through other outlets.
World’s Largest Statue of Lord Nataraja
Bronze sculptors working with Lotus Sculpture completed the wax model of the world’s largest statue of Lord Nataraja in 2010. Photos of the model were published in the final 2010 issue of Hinduism Today. The model is 22 feet tall, and boasts 108 figures of Gana, Nandi, and cobras around the arch. The pedestal is projected to be five feet tall and will be embellished with 25 avatars of Lord Shiva.
When finished, the statue will weigh nearly ten tons. The statue is expected to be complete later in 2011 and will break the world record when it stands at a completed height of 22 feet. The purchase price has not been officially set, but estimations have put the tag at $3 million USD.
Other Products
Lotus Sculpture is a leading retailer of sculptures representing figures within Hinduism and Buddhism. Specific product categories include South Indian bronze statues, Hindu Wood Statues, Thai brass Buddha statues, colored marble statues, and large stone Hindu and Buddhist sculptures.
Lotus Sculpture statues are hand crafted. The statues and sculptures for sale at Lotus Sculpture are supplied directly from carvers and traditional artisans in North and South India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia, specifically Bali.
Materials and Artisan Processes
Sculptures and statues offered for sale are made using traditional materials. This not only helps to preserve traditional processes of crafting the statues, but upholds a fair trade principal of stewardship for the environment. Specifically, the metals used include South Indian bronze, Bengali bronze, and Thai brass. Lotus Sculpture also works with stone carvers in Asia who craft Hindu god sculptures and statues of Lord Buddha from red, black, white, and gray marble. Other stones used in the sculptures include granite and sandstone. A number of additional statues and sculptures available at Lotus Sculpture are handcrafted from wood, including the unique Hindu god wall art plaques.
Lotus Sculpture supports fair trade artisans in four countries, helping to preserve traditional methods of crafting sculptures and statues. One of the most notable processes is the lost wax process. This process, which requires much skill and takes a great deal of time, is in jeopardy of becoming a lost art due to many companies’ switch to mechanical production of creating statues in mass quantities. Lotus Sculpture, however, works with groups such as Bronze Creative in India to ensure the preservation of the timeless art of lost wax.
In addition to working with lost wax artisans, Lotus Sculpture has also helped other artisans in India as well as Bangladeshi artisans once working in less promising conditions thrive. Lotus Sculpture is the exclusive purchaser of the marble statues created by a group of 30 artisans within a stone workshop. The purchases from Lotus Sculpture also help an 11-man bronze workshop to secure loans necessary to buy raw bronze. Furthermore, Lotus Sculpture works with pala bronze sculptors in Bangladesh who have created 18 new jobs in seven years because of the income from their fair trade wages.
The statues sold at Lotus Sculpture are very specific in their traditional symbolism and meaning. A significant portion of Lotus Sculpture’s inventory are figures that represent the many gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Sculptures and statues include representations of Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh, Buddha, Nataraja, Saraswati, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Krishna, Hanuman, Patanjali, Shakti, Devi, Kali, Durga, and Murugan. Statues of each Hindu god or goddess also vary, representing different stories or characteristics attributed to the deity within Hindu mythology.
In addition to selling statues, Lotus Sculpture provides customers or researchers with detailed information on Hindu mythology and how the positions of each deity within the statue corresponds to history or myth. Information about many Hindu gods and goddesses is available on their website, and can also be gained from visiting one of their two U.S. locations.

Markets
Lotus Sculpture remains a unique business entity because of its direct trade policies. Owner Kyle Tortora personally travels to Asian and hand selects the best pieces made from master craftsmen, without employing middlemen.
The clientele of Lotus Sculpture includes several high-end buyers and institutions such as the Calgary Zoo Elephant Exhibition. Other clientele includes devout Hindus, collectors of Asian art, yoga studios, designers and landscape architects. Their statues have been featured in magazines and publications including Luxe (Fall 2009), Hinduism Today (2010), the Southern Connecticut Newspapers (2005), and Bibi Magazine. Advertisements regularly appear in Shambhala Sun and Yoga Journal.
Net Worth / Gross Sales
Lotus Sculpture sells an average of 700 handcrafted sculptures annually. The average price of a statue or sculpture is $500. Combined gross sales figures for 2009 and 2010 topped $650,000. The company saw a growth in both number of statues sold and total revenue in 2010, during what many other businesses considered an economic recession.
Partnerships
Lotus Sculpture has partnered with the Lions Club of Chidambaram, India for charitable purposes. Projects funded entirely by Lotus Sculpture included Tsunami relief, Water Systems, and the implementation of libraries in local schools. Owner Kyle Tortora personally helped to implement these projects.
Although an entirely separate entity, Dharma Sculpture is a business much like Lotus Sculpture and was founded by Kyle Tortora’s wife, Brenda Marrero. Owner Kyle Tortora also helped found

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