by aleida, on February 8th, 2010
During our latest trip to San Francisco, Kevin and I stopped by the showroom of Fossil Faux Studios. Founder and artist Marcia Stuermer sat down to chat with us and tell us about her background and about how she developed the amazing pieces in her collection.
The Studio manufactures resin panels that carry objects embedded within their matrix. Like treasure-containing amber, which itself is fossilized resin, these panels carry a bit of history within them. Every panel is literally a work of art – Marcia works directly with her clients to create unique designs for their particular needs.
Her early work drew heavily from her sculpting experience, doing hand-carved performance art pieces where the wood was made to look like rock. At various points, she incorporated recycled computer components. Her desire for lighter materials led her to explore plastics and her quest to get something that looked like natural amber eventually led her to resins.
The current formulation for the Fossil Faux resin panels took about seven years to perfect. Her first panels incorporated some of the mechanical elements she saw around due to her father’s work, who was a mechanical engineer. They contain old chips, circuitry, discs, and random other computer components. The range of embedded objects, most of which have been recycled or salvaged, then explodes to include everything from paper clips and metal shavings to rose buds and scorched wood veneer. Some panel samples boast plastic bubble wrap, fall foliage in all its glory, slices of bread, river rock, chunks of tree trunks, and thin cloth. Other panels offer interesting juxtapositions: perfect mechanical wheels next to desiccated leaves, or tiny plastic toy soldiers attacking a hand-drawn cluster of microscopic life.
The panels can be used for wall cladding, stairs, flooring, countertops, bar tops, and table tops, though clients really see them as something permanent, as heirloom pieces. Each panel “is supposed to be an art piece that keeps on giving and giving. It is not meant to be a disposable commodity,” states Marcia. Nevertheless, Fossil Faux does have a buy-back program so that a client can return their product, get a credit with the company, and then get a new product. Fossil Faux then sells those items as one-off pieces to other clients who may not otherwise be able to afford the price of a one-off work of art.
Due to the unique nature of every panel, none are kept in stock. Even the simple ones without any objects are crafted only upon ordering. This allows Marcia and her team to make sure the clients get the exact shade they want. Talk about customization!
Thank you, Marcia, for your time during our visit!
Click the icon below for more tour photos.
Gorgeous! What is her process?
Hi Kim,
Each panel is poured in three layers. The center layer is where she embeds objects. It’s generally a clear layer and the outer two layers can be colored, textured, or treated in different ways to get the right effect. It’s pretty amazing stuff.