S P E C I A L
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A D V E R T I S I N G
S E C T I O N
INDUSTRY INSIDER
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ANOMA “Every day is an experiment in our studio and workshop, and disruption is actively encouraged.”
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STONE + TILE
RUCHIKA GROVER, FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR anomastone.com 310.817.4828 anomastone
he story of Anoma is one of global origins and unconventional perspectives. The daughter of a stone trader, Ruchika Grover has possessed a passion for stone and the carving of it for as long as she can remember. After getting her own start carving marble and limestone in India, the artist gave a name to her business and soon expanded. The Middle East and Singapore became important client bases, and not long after, Anoma was launched in the United States. With the completion of a few paramount projects—sculptures and hardscape for The Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt and Kempinski— the company became synonymous with delivering the unexpected. It’s a fitting
reputation, given Grover’s own outlook on her work. “Counter to the perception surrounding stone, I was determined not to bow down to it, but rather bend the material form to my vision,” she says. “Over the years, I started dabbling in architecture and art, and experimenting with dimensionality in both organic and geometric forms.” She also blends handcraftsmanship with digital fabrication, and considers the play of light and shadow intrinsic. Asked what her greatest success has been, Grover says, “It has been most rewarding to build an organization where we challenge ourselves every day. For the intent is always to inspire, not to impress.”
ASK THE EXPERT How do you include the client in your creative process? About 95 percent of our projects are special-order installations, so we spend considerable time taking our clients through our portfolio and process to zero in on their vision. That intention could be as specific as a commissioned art piece of the topography map of the hill their residence is being built on, or as open-ended as a skin for a facade that makes it look like sculpture. What project would you love to take on? In India and the Middle East, we have completed prolific public art, monuments and memorial projects, and I would like to follow a similar trajectory here eventually, while continuing to be involved in luxury residential and hospitality. We are also in conversation about a project that would involve carving a mountain, and I can hardly wait for that to begin.