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Kyle Tortora remembers the exact
moment his life changed. He was traveling through India and had stopped
in a small shop. It was there that he saw the Nataraja sculpture.
At the time, he had just sold his life's belongings and was searching
for a way to fuse his love for travel, foreign culture and religion with
a career.
He took one look at the Nataraja, a Hindu statue of the God Shiva in a
dancing pose, and was smitten.
"I knew right then, right there, that this is what I want to do for the
rest of my life," he said.
Today, Tortora is the owner of Greenwich-based Lotus Sculpture, a
business he launched in 2002 to sell Buddhist and Hindu sculpture via
the Web at
www.lotussculpture.com.
Tortora, who also lives in Greenwich, travels to Thailand, Bangladesh
and India twice a year, where he meets with a network of artisans in
small villages. Then, almost obsessively, he chooses the pieces he wants
to buy -- studying the beauty of the figure's face, the details in the
ornaments, the intricacies of the hands and the feet, and the overall
proportion of the piece.
"Just like van Gogh or Monet, each artisan has his own style that you
can differentiate," he said.
Each piece is crated and shipped to Greenwich, where Tortora runs his
business and also stores the artwork.
"I would say I have the largest inventory in the world of these
statues," said the 30-year-old entrepreneur, whose father is a long-time
podiatrist in town.
Over the past three years, Lotus Sculpture has developed a loyal
clientele from all over the world. While most order directly from the
Web site, Tortora has occasional visitors to his warehouse, which he
crafted from his father's basement and has stocked with bronze, marble
and wood statues.
Last week, a client from Spokane, Wash., visited, he said.
About 30 percent of his clients buy the statues for religious worship,
Tortora said. But the bulk of his business is from serious art
collectors and spiritual people.
He advertises in spiritual publications such as Hinduism Today and Yoga
Journal.
A religion major at the University of Richmond, Tortora took his first
trip to Thailand when he was 18. After college he spent four years
exploring Southeast Asia -- traveling from China to Australia with stops
many places in between.
A brief hiatus from his adventure brought Tortora back to the United
States. He spent two years in Manhattan selling Web sites until the
travel bug caught up with him again.
"I packed my bags, sold everything and went to India," he said.
After discovering the Nataraja statue, Tortora traveled from village to
village visiting artisans, learning about the craft and the mythology
behind each of the gods.
A business concept such as this couldn't survive as just a
bricks-and-mortar storefront, he said.
While it is an exciting business to be in, it's not always easy, said
Tortora. It takes about six months to get the artwork out of Bangladesh
and India. And getting through the red tape takes patience.
He's not complaining.
"This is my lifelong dream come true," Tortora said. "I love getting up
in the morning. It's a cliché, but I really mean it."
By Julie Fishman-Lapin
Copyright (c) 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
God Craft
Digital Dharma in Hinduism Today
Digital
Dharma is an editorial on the back page of the magazine, "Hinduism Today"
written to promote quality Hindu Websites,
Editorial in Bibi Magazine
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