Details:

This work is made from terrazzo, a subtractive process the artists fell in love with while researching Roman mosaics. It is a laborious and rewarding process that allows the two artists to combine many of their interests: craft, history, permanence and natural resources.
Framed: 24.2 x 20.2 x 1.2 in.
Signed

① Artwork:

Sea Hands

This work is made from terrazzo, a subtractive process the artists fell in love with while researching Roman mosaics. The two artists taught themselves the process of terrazzo through a combination of resources on the internet and by trial and error. Their current method involves combining dyed cement with various aggregates—marble, granite, glass, etc. To create this work, the artists mix everything together into a big slurry, let it cure in place and then grind it down so that the finished product is actually a cross-section of a concrete/aggregate matrix. The artists work in this medium through a “paint by number” approach, often using metal strips to create shapes. The duo cut, bend and solder these shapes to a background before they pour. Finally, the artists grind, polish and seal the surface. It is a laborious and rewarding process that allows the artists to combine many of their interests: craft, history, permanence and natural resources.

Specs:

20.25 inches
24.25 inches
with frame
20.25 inches
24.25 inches
1.25 inches
24.25 inches

③ Artist:

Ficus Interfaith

Ficus Interfaith, a collaboration between artist Ryan Bush and Raphael Martinez Cohen, is as much a research initiative as a sculptural practice. The artists’ projects involve relearning production methods to explore personal and collective interactions with the “natural.” Ficus Interfaith’s work examines how ingenuity and novelty emerge from craft.

BIO:

Ficus Interfaith is a collaboration between Ryan Bush, born in Denver, Colorado in 1990, and Raphael Martinez Cohen, born in New York City in 1989. Both artists received a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island.

Solo exhibitions of Ficus Interfaith’s work have taken place at: Deli Gallery in New York City; in lieu in Los Angeles, California; Incident Report in Hudson, New York; Jack Chiles in New York City; Interstate Projects in Brooklyn, New York; and Prairie in Chicago, Illinois; among others.

Group exhibitions that have shown Ficus Interfaith’s work include: Noplace at P.P.O.W. Gallery in New York City; and In Practice: Total Disbelief at Sculpture Center in Queens, New York; among others. 

In 2018, Ficus Interfaith were artists in residence at 2727 California Street in Berkeley, California and Shandaken Projects: Storm King in New Windsor, New York.

Ficus Interfaith:
Sea Hands, 2022
Cementious terrazzo in oak frame
24.3 × 20.3 inches /