Mix Masters

At their subterranean studio in Queens, the design duo Ficus Interfaith combines stones, shells, pits, and more into terrazzo creations rich with narrative meaning

- HANNAH MARTIN

1. A WORK IN PROGRESS FOR FICUS INTERFAITH'S SOLO SHOW AT NINA JOHNSON, NOW ON VIEW (NINAJOHNSON .COM). 2. RYAN BUSH (LEFT) AND RAPHAEL MARTINEZ COHEN IN THEIR STUDIO. 3. SHELL MEDALLION, 2025, ATOP A CHAIR.

Raphael Martinez Cohen and Ryan Bush’s basement studio in Maspeth, Queens, feels a bit like a grotto, with shimmering panels propped up against subterranean walls. A quick glance around reveals buckets of mussel shells, pine cones, crushed marble, and more, all fodder for their intricate terrazzo creations, made under the moniker Ficus Interfaith. “It kind of looks like a tackle box, showing all of our aggregates,” Bush says of a tile-like series titled 48, wherein peanut shells, corn kernels, corks, animal vertebrae, and even broken pieces of a scented Santa Maria Novella terra-cotta pomegranate are presented like specimen samples. “Each one is beautiful because of its individuality,” he continues. “We don’t privilege pearls over a crushed beer bottle.”