Kawabi

New York, USA

A Poetic Approach to Kozo Paper

The Bio

Kawabi is the New York–based studio practice of Aaron and Irisa Na-Chan Kawabi, a creative partnership born from their shared journey as artists, designers, and descendants of diaspora. Meeting at Parsons School of Design, where they both studied product design, their early collaborations evolved into a dedicated practice grounded in shared values: honoring cultural inheritance, exploring the meaning of home, and transforming craft into a language of belonging.

Guided by a deep spiritual and aesthetic connection to Eastern traditions, Kawabi’s work embraces the slow, intentional processes of traditional joinery and paper-making. Each piece is conceived as both a functional object and an emotional touchstone—imagined heirlooms that feel ancient yet new, rooted in a deeper history yet untethered from any single time or place. Their practice reflects a personal journey to create what they never inherited: design objects that evoke the warmth, familiarity, and presence of a long-lost home.

Working from their intimate Brooklyn studio near the Navy Yard, the pair moves fluidly between woodshop and craft space, allowing hand, mind, and body to remain in constant dialogue. Their process is tactile and immersive, informed by intuition, lived experience, and the belief that beauty and harmony in the home can foster peace and emotional attunement. Each creation—whether a paper lamp, a piece of furniture, or a finely crafted vessel—serves as an offering to daily life, embodying Kawabi’s vision of design as both art and quiet ritual.

Get in touch with us if any inquiries into Kawabi’s work

Get In Touch

The Products

- Souvenir Table Lamp
- 1.700 EUR
- Kawabi
- ex. VAT
- Souvenir Floor Lamp
- 7.050 EUR
- Kawabi
- ex. VAT
- Legume Lamp
- 1.900 EUR
- Kawabi
- ex. VAT
- Cascade Pendant
- 4.350 EUR
- Kawabi
- ex. VAT

The Conversation

Your studio is located in a remarkable space. Can you tell us more about the place and how you ended up there?

We were looking for a place with a soul—something born out of craft that would reflect the character of our practice. We found an abandoned 19th-century factory in Żyrardów, close to our home. We wandered through the empty halls and fell in love with the atmosphere. The building had no windows and pigeons still flew inside—yet it felt extraordinary. We managed to secure the space, and today we have 300 sqm to work with. Space is crucial to my process—you need air and room to move, to work freely and experiment.

You run the studio with your life partner. How does that collaboration work in practice?

We’ve been building our brand together from the very beginning. Ewelina handles the business side and also has her full practice as a visual artist; I, on the other hand, concentrate on designing and producing objects. But it’s always a dialogue—between art and design, and between the two of us. Each of us also has a personal creative playground.

Your works show a confident command of materials—there’s great coherence, but also a wide spectrum of media and techniques. How did you get there?

It happened naturally. I’ve always had a certain ease with design—not just creating a specific thing, but responding in a moving, meaningful way to the needs of a client or collection. We try to avoid literal, online-driven references; instead, we look at the inner world—our own experiences and family stories. I love exploring new technologies, yet I mostly stick to natural materials. In an age of excess, we feel responsible for making objects that are durable, repairable, and able to live almost indefinitely. That’s why every piece is handmade: turned elements are made by a lathe craftsman and later polished by a specific person. We don’t do mass, machine production. That gives the work authenticity.

Is there a piece that holds a special meaning for you?

Yes—a painting we created together at the very beginning of our relationship. It hangs in Ewelina’s studio in Berlin, in an old factory. It came out of an exercise meant to free us from academic rules. We painted together, even with our hands. It’s a beautiful memory—a symbol of liberation and shared experimentation.

Many of your projects are light objects, but you also create tables, rugs, and screens. How do you move from lighting to everyday pieces?

Yes, it started with lamps—which makes it easy to be boxed in as “the lighting designer.” But we think ahead and want to show more and more other kinds of work as well. We have many ideas ‘in the drawer’ and a number of projects waiting to see the light of day.