Resin art has had a tremendous boom in the past three years. Marble-like textures with soft, streamlined colors dotted with crystals and gems decorated Instagram feeds in 2020 during the pandemic as Indonesians began admiring and experimenting with the art of epoxy. 

While epoxy resin provides a compelling form of expression, it has also gained popularity as a business amongst creatives. 

The #resinart hashtag on Instagram hosts over 11.5 million posts displaying and selling decorative crafts like paintings, coasters and even tables. Similarly, TikTok's resin art page showcases resin art creation videos with hundreds of thousands of views. 

Depending on the scale of the product, resin art can go for as cheap as Rp 20,000 (US$1.31) to Rp 30,000 in coasters or keychains or several million rupiahs in large wall art pieces or furniture. 

"If you want to earn Rp 15 million to 20 million a month, it's absolutely possible," said Cindy Agnes, 29. She and her husband Reynold Yanuar, 34, run Creative Arts Studio (@ca_resinstudio), a resin-art producer based in Surabaya, East Java. 

"The resin art market is broad, but success depends on the individual. How well do they know the market's taste? How well can they innovate?" Cindy continued.

Effort: Reynold Yanuar (left) and Cindy Agnes worked hard to put their work on display. (Courtesy of Cindy Agnes and Reynold Yanuar) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Cindy Agnes and Reynold Yanuar)

Despite hopping late into the field in June 2022, Creatives Arts Studio already has over 29,000 followers on Instagram. The couple's business has undergone numerous changes over the past eight months — selling gift coasters and keychains to young adults before evolving to selling clocks, paintings and 60 by 40-meter wall art.

They have even started offering workshops and courses for resin enthusiasts interested in starting their own businesses. While they only offered workshops and courses in early February, Cindy affirmed the value of resin art as an entrepreneurship opportunity. 

"I want them to earn an income at the end of the day. After seven months of working in the field, I know what sells in the market. I want them to make something more than ordinary art pieces – I want them to compete," she said.

Though Cindy shows the potential of resin art as a business, many also admire the artistry required to execute it. 

According to Cindy's research, resin art has been popular in Western countries like the United States since 2018. However, the trend only caught on in Indonesia during COVID-19. With lockdowns forcing many away from their usual occupations, several artists began exploring resin art as a unique pattern of expression and technique. 

"I think I started doing it around 2020," 23-year-old Jakartan Belinda Carensia said. "I started it out of curiosity and boredom."

Belinda is a Jakarta-based visual design artist. She studied concept art, illustration and film production at 3Dsense Media School Singapore. She began exploring resin art while working from home. 

Her Instagram account has over 1,000 followers displaying and selling crystals and resin art (@crystalicious.art), showing appreciation for the artistry involved in the process.

"Resin art is pretty different if you compare it with simply pouring paints and ornaments," she explained. "The consistency of chemicals included in the mix will change how the outcome will look like. For example, alcohol paints are trickier to play around with if you compare it to mica powder."

"I just love the process – the way it mixes and then seeing the finished products."

Gifts with nuance and color

According to Belinda and Cindy, resin art is most popularly purchased as a gift. While Belinda only occasionally sells resin art, preferring to display her crystals and art on Instagram, Cindy has had many experiences with clients during her short time as a producer and creator.

"All of our work is customized. We have many different forms and motifs on our Instagram, but we always try to suit it to our client's preferences," Cindy detailed. "We don't make fully formed images since that would be an ordinary painting. 

“For example, if someone asks us to make a peacock, that wouldn't be our specialty. However, if they want the nuances of a peacock, that's absolutely within our realm. Hints of green and flows that we can do."

"We play around with what nuance or what color clients want. If a client wants red, we'll figure out what nuance of red they'd prefer. Nuance and color are always the first things we ask for."

The process of finding this nuance is layered and challenging. Belinda noted how the right viscosity and chemical formula of the resin is crucial in its formation. Much of the process entails forming designs, mixing the substance, pouring carefully and polishing after drying.

"Making sure that the ornaments stay in place before it dries [is difficult]," she said. "I guess the resin process can be a bit similar to rendering in Photoshop, layer by layer."

Due to resin's tricky and layered nature, perfection is a high bar to aim for. As Creative Arts' main designer, Cindy took international online lessons from April to May 2022 to learn the craft, painting over 40 different 60 x 40 meter wall pieces before being satisfied with the results. 

Even with her experience, Cindy has her fair share of worries over her studios' products.

"I remember staying up to 3 or 4 a.m., working on clients' pieces, looking at the design. I'd still think it over in my sleep – is something missing here? I lose sleep when I can't find a solution," she said. 

"Many of these are gifts, not just home decorations. Receiving these gifts should be one of the best moments of someone's life. We need to be creative about it."

While she shared similar frustrations with Cindy, Belinda's background in other forms of visual arts largely informs her approach. She acknowledged that the pandemic had inspired many less experienced creators to dabble in the form, an important distinction to consider in the larger marketplace.

"I'd say take your time to learn and don't be afraid to make mistakes," Belinda advised new artists in the field.

As for Cindy, she reinforced the need to be daring in the market. Both she and her husband left traditional office jobs to pursue their current path — and they have both faced enough successes and failures along the journey to fuel their determination.

"If you still have your doubts, you can play around with it as a side hustle. If there's some income, then you can let go of your other occupations little by little. But you have to be innovative. Even if you're learning with a course, you still have to be creative and know how to read the market," Cindy said.

"It's alright to see resin art as something to fill in time. However, it takes a visionary to succeed in the business."