The story behind GumLamps
I’m Cam PC, artist and director of GumLamps, sculpting ancient Kauri timber and gum into luxurious Kauri Amber Light Features focusing on minimum waste production to make unique one of a kind natural art pieces from rare materials.
At GumLamps, we honor the timeless beauty of Aotearoa’s ancient Kauri forests. Each Kauri Amber Light Feature is a unique fusion ancient Kauri timber and kauri gum (amber), both age from tens to hundreds of thousands of years old, meticulously sculpted to preserve the legacy of these taonga.
New Zealand deserves recognition as an amber country, yet its story is often overlooked because we have long used the familiar term “kauri gum.” That word comes from history and practicality, but it can unintentionally mask the deeper reality of what this material represents. Much of what we call kauri gum follows the same natural processes as amber elsewhere in the world polymerised resin carrying deep time, forest history, and geological significance.
At Gumlamps, our mission is to gently shift that perspective. Not to reject the past, but to expand understanding. By educating, sharing, and showcasing the beauty of this material, we aim to help people see kauri gum as New Zealand amber — a unique, natural treasure formed in ancient forests and worthy of recognition, care, and pride.
At Gumlamps, our mission begins quietly, much like the material itself. While this resource often goes unnoticed beneath the surface of the land and in the wider public mind, we choose to treat it with patience, respect, and long vision. Protection comes first — understanding that once removed, altered, or forgotten, this resource cannot be replaced. Stewardship matters most when few are watching.
We exist to spread awareness before demand, knowledge before noise. By educating people on what this material truly is, where it comes from, and why it matters, we aim to bring it into common understanding without exploiting it. Until its existence is widely known, its story clearly told, and its value properly understood, we will continue to share, teach, and protect — ensuring this hidden part of New Zealand’s natural heritage is recognised, respected, and preserved for the future.
We believe in the power of collaborative art bringing together artists, collectors, and guardians of the forest to celebrate, protect, and share this living heritage. Through our Ancient Kauri Art Network, you can connect, create, and contribute to projects that keep these forests alive in spirit and art.
By buying a gum lamp your supporting our Guardians of the Forest campaign, you’re helping safeguard New Zealand’s swamp Kauri and ensuring their stories continue to shine for generations to come.
Gumlamps is about lighting up a hidden gem letting people see a rare beauty that has always been there. This material is the ancient forest reborn, resin formed in deep time and carried forward into the present. We’re not chasing the past; we’re re-imagining it, bringing new life and meaning to an old industry through modern design, science, and respect for the resource.
This is the kauri story entering the 21st century. Not a rush driven by extraction, but one powered by knowledge, craftsmanship, and care. A quiet gold rush waiting to be understood — where value comes from awareness, not volume, and where a forgotten treasure finally gets the light it deserves.
if you like our Kaupapa the best way to support our mission is by educating yourself and sharing the knowledge check out Kauri gum Scientific Insights into the origin of amber as well as kauri history and the gum digging industry
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