Some artists shape silver. Others shape stories.
Larry Vasquez does both.
I met Larry over four decades ago, back when the foundation of Sunwest Silver was still settling and every handshake was packed with hope of a lasting trust.
He came into this world in Silver City, New Mexico, back in 1947 - but don’t try to read into any particular era. Larry isn’t bound by time. He carries the spirit of his ancestors like colorful gems set in his spirit - a flute maker, a musician, a medicine man, a harvester of metal and stone. When he creates, it isn’t just jewelry coming to life, it’s a song first forged in the soul, myth shaped in gold, and movement carved from the breath of the earth itself.
What I’ve always admired most about Larry isn’t just the way he blends metals, or how he can finesse rare stones into a story told through meticulously set channels and bezels. It’s the way he sees the world. Passionate. Truthful. Intense. He doesn’t just make jewelry, he channels the breath of nature and the song of the earth into every piece. He names each one, writes poems for them, lets them speak in a voice as unique as the wearer they’ll one day meet.
You don’t work with someone like Larry. You walk beside him—through art shows and powwows, over decades of shared stories and unforgettable experiences. He’s got more first-place awards than I can count, but they don’t compare to the pride he feels when someone feels seen by something he made with his own two hands.
Larry is the kind of craftsman who could’ve chased fame in any big city gallery. But he stayed true. To his people. To the land. To the fire that shapes his vision.
Larry’s not just a collaborator. He’s a friend and fellow believer that the old ways still have something to teach. A reminder that when art comes from the soul, it never goes out of style.
He calls himself an alchemist. I call him one of the finest human beings I’ve ever known.