Marc Jacobs’s New Obsession Is Artist Kyle Montgomery and His Crystal Virgin Mary Sculptures

Brooke Bobb

Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery 

<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery </cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Marc Jacobs x Kyle Montgomery

Earlier this week, Marc Jacobs announced that he’ll be auctioning off his personal art collection, which includes work by the likes of Elizabeth Peyton, John Currin, Urs Fischer, and Richard Prince. The sale will take place at Sotheby’s and comes at a time when Jacobs is embracing change. The designer married his longtime love Charly Defrancesco in April, and they’ve relocated to a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Rye, New York, putting Jacobs’s West Village townhouse on the market in the process.

This is hardly the end of art in his life, however. Jacobs has long been dedicated to working alongside artists and supporting their work through collaboration, teaming up with Prince as well as Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami, among others. Now, Jacobs is promoting a lesser-known name, someone whose sculpture was discovered by his brand’s head of special projects, Ava Nirui.

Niuri had seen Kyle Montgomery’s work on Instagram and become intrigued by his iconographic subject matter: the Virgin Mary. Jacobs was entranced by the art too. Montgomery crafts sculptures using crystal and antique religious figurines, blending notions of Catholicism and new-age healing. “I grew up Catholic and admired the Virgin Mary for what I saw in her, which was that she was the mother of the earth.” He adds, “To me, she is the guardian of all, and the strongest and most powerful woman to have ever lived. When I started learning more about new-age religions, crystals, meditation, and positive intentions, I decided to morph the two into one object. I found that these sculptures represent all of the powers that I idolized and need in my life.”

Montgomery, who was born and raised in Australia, has designed 15 statues; all of them are being sold at the Marc Jacobs flagship on Madison Avenue. The artist never expected such a partnership, but he does believe that it was fate. He recently lost his wife to a tragic accident and Marc Jacobs was her favorite designer. “I felt like this opportunity was sent to me from above, from her,” he said. “This is for her.”

Originally Appeared on Vogue