About Sculptera

Sculptera is the Miami studio of visual artist Fermin Fleites. It makes sculpted objects: pieces carved by hand where the artistic decision comes first, whether the result is a table, a cabinet, or a freestanding figure. All of them come from the same place, a deep enjoyment of one of the oldest arts there is, carving wood by hand.

Four hand-carved figures by Sculptera, custom sculptural furniture

What is a sculpted object?

A sculpted object is a piece conceived as sculpture that may also serve a use. The function, when there is one, follows the form. A dining table, a sideboard, a bar cabinet, and a standing figure are approached the same way: as one form that has to hold its own in a room before it does anything else. These pieces do not go unnoticed, and they were never meant to.

Why hand carving?

Because it is the part of the work we enjoy most, and because the trade behind it, the cabinetmaker’s and the carver’s, is worth recovering. Choosing the board, reading the grain, removing material with edge tools, letting the joinery show instead of hiding it: none of this is fast, and it shows in the piece. The material sets the terms. The hand answers.

Hand planes and chisels on the Sculptera workbench in Miami
Live-edge solid wood table top by Sculptera, modern art furniture USA

How is each piece designed?

From a personal point of view and from direct contact with the material that carries the piece. The grain, the weight, and the flaws of a specific board decide where a curve can go and where a joint has to sit. Nothing is drawn that the wood cannot hold.

What materials does Sculptera work with?

Materials in their original state. Solid wood first, cedar and American mahogany among them, worked as solid wood and carved from a single board or a single trunk whenever the piece allows it. Hand-welded iron and stainless steel where a piece calls for them. Stone and bronze. Nothing that pretends to be what it is not.

Sculpted floor lamp by Fermin Fleites, art furniture gallery Miami
Hand-carved sideboard by Sculptera in a bedroom interior

Who is Sculptera for?

For owners who value real exclusivity in their spaces, and for the designers and architects who work with them. In a market of straight lines, cheap materials, and easy solutions with no aesthetic intent, a Sculptera piece is the accent that makes a room singular. It is made for a specific space and a specific owner, and it is built to be inherited.

Who carves the pieces?

Fermin Fleites, a visual artist based in Miami. Sculptera is where his sculpture meets use: the same hands and the same respect for the material, applied to objects made to be lived with. More about his work, sculpture, and drawings at ferminfleites.com.

Carved standing figure by Fermin Fleites, sculptural furniture Miami

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