About · Miami studio
About Sculptera
Sculptera is the Miami studio of visual artist Fermin Fleites. Here, pieces and objects are sculpted by hand in wood, ceramic, metal, and stone. The artistic decision comes before any other consideration, whether the piece is an element of furniture or a freestanding figure. They all come from the same idea: sculpture can leave the pedestal and enter everyday life without ceasing to be sculpture.
01 · What it is
What is a sculpted object?
A sculpted object is a piece conceived first as sculpture that, in certain cases, also serves a practical function. A dining table, a sideboard, a bar cabinet, or a freestanding figure all start from the same problem: finding a form capable of standing on its own in space. When there is a function, it emerges from the form, not the other way around. That is why a Sculptera piece must have presence before it serves any other purpose. It is not conceived to disappear into a room, but to become part of its identity.
Fig. 01 · Dining table, American mahogany
American mahogany
Solid wood, worked as a solid mass.
Hand-carved
A form capable of standing on its own in space.
Jute accents
Hand-woven jute.
02 · The hand
Why work the material by hand?
Because direct contact with the material is an essential part of the creative process. Choosing a piece of wood or a clay; reading the grain; recognizing a weight, a resistance, or an imperfection; removing material with a cutting tool; deciding where a joint appears or how much of the surface should remain visible: none of these decisions is secondary. In this way, Sculptera reclaims crafts such as cabinetmaking, carving, and ceramics, not as nostalgia, but as tools of a contemporary sculptural practice.
The material offers resistance. The hand responds. Form emerges from that encounter.
Fig. 02 · Hand planes and chisels
Chisels
Removing material with a cutting tool.
Hand plane
Reading the grain.
03 · The design
How is each piece designed?
From a personal perspective, and from direct contact with the material that will support it. The grain of the wood, its weight and its imperfections; the plasticity of a clay and its behavior during firing; the strength of a metal or the density of a stone all play a part in the decisions about form. A curve, a joint, a void, or a volume is not arbitrarily imposed on the material. Artistic intention sets a direction. The material sets the conditions. The piece emerges in the tension between the two.
Fig. 03 · Table top in solid wood
Grain
No two tables are alike. The grain and knots of the wood reveal the age of the piece.
Details
The grain as the theme of the piece.
04 · The materials
What materials does Sculptera work with?
Materials whose nature remains visible. Mainly solid wood, including cedar and American mahogany, worked as a solid mass and, when the piece allows it, carved from a single board or a single log. In ceramics, local clays and blends developed with pigments. Iron and stainless steel, welded by hand when the piece requires it. Also stone and bronze. The finishes do not seek to disguise the material, but to reveal its qualities.
Nothing pretends to be what it is not.
Fig. 04 · Sculpted floor lamp
Linked stem
Materials whose nature remains visible.
Stitched shade
The finishes do not seek to disguise the material.
05 · Who it is for
Who is Sculptera for?
For those who understand that an object can transform the character of a space. Sculptera works directly with collectors and homeowners, as well as with architects and interior designers looking to bring pieces with an identity of their own into their projects. Each work is conceived to have presence: not as decoration added to a space as an afterthought, but as one of the elements capable of defining it. Many pieces can be developed for a specific site, responding to its scale, architecture, and context. They are objects made to be lived with, to take on the marks of time, and to endure.
Pieces conceived to be lived with and, in time, passed down.
Fig. 05 · Rendered interior · Hand-carved sideboard
Solid American mahogany
Hand-carved sideboard.
Made for a site
Responding to its scale, architecture, and context.
06 · The artist
Who sculpts the pieces?
The pieces are conceived and sculpted by Fermin Fleites, a visual artist based in Miami. Sculptera was born as an extension of his artistic practice: the place where sculpture meets the object and, at times, function. The same hands, the same exploration of form, and the same respect for the material, applied to pieces created to live alongside us.
More about his work, sculptures, and drawings at ferminfleites.com.
Fig. 06 · Carved standing figure
Carved surface
The same hands.
Carved form
The same exploration of form.
Block base
The same respect for the material.
07 · Private inquiries
Commission a piece
Every piece is made for one room and one owner. Tell me the space, the wood you have in mind, and your timeline.