Art of Failure — Pride of the White Star Line, a white marble sail on driftwood and foundry brick, by Utah sculptor Byron Ramos

Utah Artist Fellow · 2024

Stone Sails

Carved from the Earth. Set adrift at sea.

View the works Read the bio

Stone · Metal · Found materialStudio in UtahExhibiting since 2020

2024

Byron is a recipient of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums Utah Artist Fellowship for his work in Visual Design.

The announcement Juror’s words

Utah sculptor Byron Ramos working on a Utah marble stone sail sculpture

The studio

Sailing the world with stone sculpture

Stone Sails is a stone sculpture studio that specialises in carving unique stone sails out of natural and found materials. Often, these materials are found miles into the mountains and carried back into civilisation.

The stone selection includes alabaster, marble, limestone, honeycomb calcite, and soapstone. Found materials — slag, glass, foundry brick — give the sculptures a character and a story of their own.

The passion for stone carving started with the desire to create something that has never been seen before. The artist takes pride in the craft and the quality, and works to make sculptures that are truly one of a kind.

See the works

Where the stone comes from

Miles into the mountains, and carried back

Alabaster from a mine near Cedar City. Limestone from an Ohio creek little known even to the locals. Brick and slag from an abandoned foundry, an abandoned mine, an abandoned train depot. The material arrives with a history before the first cut.

Artist’s statement

Stone sails are about the bones in the ocean. The lost friends. About remembering to turn towards the dawn even though there is only darkness.

They’re about heading into the unknown, even if you are alone. It’s about the mentality of being calm no matter what. Never giving up.

Failure, when faced, can be made into something better than failure alone. Stone sails are the Art of Failure.

Read the full statement

Byron Ramos harvesting stone to carve, deep in the mountains following a riverbed, wearing his combat loadout to raise awareness of soldier suicide — Harvesting stone — miles up a riverbed

Utah fine artist sculptor Byron Ramos working on an alabaster sail — Carving an alabaster sail

Using a drill press to make a black granite base, Utah fine artist sculptor Byron Ramos — Drilling a black granite base

Utah fine artist sculptor Byron Ramos holding a polished slab of honeycomb calcite up to the light — Reading the grain of a polished slab

A carving bench laid out with hammers, chisels and a block of stone — The bench, and the chisels

Byron Ramos at an alpine lake in the Utah mountains — Where the stone comes from

Selected

Featured works

Gilded at the Fracture

Suspended from a mobile crane, raised and lowered on a mast that locks where you leave it. The fracture is not hidden or mended: it is gilded, and carries the weight.

Dimensions: 10 ft × 5 ft × 7 ft
Structure: Suspended from a mobile crane on lockable wheels; adjustable mast
Shown: Springville Museum of Art, 2026
Award: Honorable Mention, Religious Show, Springville Museum of Art, 2026–27

On exhibitionPublic installation All works

At the Crossroads

“Remember what brought you to this moment. Who helped you get here. What you need is courage at the crossroads.”

Material: Marble, steel, wood
Size: 71 × 24 × 58 in
Placed: Art Around the Corner, St. George, 2025–26

ExhibitedIn the studio All works

Hope is Found

Made of forgotten materials from an abandoned mine, an abandoned foundry and an abandoned train depot — a reminder of the moments we have had to dig deep and find hope.

Material: Found material
Shown: Springville Museum of Art, 2025–26

On exhibitionIn the studio All works

Where the work has stood

Exhibition record

Oct 16, 2026 – Jan 2027

40th Annual Spiritual & Religious Art of Utah

Springville Museum of Art · Springville, UT

“Gilded at the Fracture”

Sep 26, 2026 – 2027

Art Avenue 2026–27

LiveDAYBREAK · Lake Avenue, South Jordan, UT

“Hope is Found”

Dec 5–27, 2025

Alternativity 2025

The Compass Gallery

“The Road To Bethlehem”

Oct 15, 2025 – Jan 7, 2026

39th Annual Spiritual & Religious Art of Utah

Springville Museum of Art · Springville, UT

“At the Crossroads”, “Hope is Found”

The full record

About the artist

From the rifle to the chisel

Byron joined the Army as a first generation Mexican/Guatemalan American, and was recruited into Special Forces — into a new kind of unit designed to be dropped behind enemy lines and establish bases of operation that would not be resupplied.

He executed sea rescues, saved dozens of lives, stormed beaches, and dropped boats — and himself — out of airplanes and helicopters. Many cameras were sacrificed in the process.

He still photographs. But instead of the rifle, it is now the hammer and chisel he wields.

The full story Journal

Self portrait of ex-Special Forces Utah fine artist sculptor Byron Ramos