Aya Kawabata

An internationally active artist and designer, Aya Kawabata studied classical music intensively from childhood. Building on this musical aesthetic, she explores expressions that connect culture, tradition and layers of time with the future. She holds a graduate degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
She has worked in Europe and the United States and established a design studio in New York. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States and Belgium. She became the first Japanese recipient of the grand prize at an international design fair in Germany and has won several international awards, including Design Anthology Awards. Work presented at this year's Salone del Mobile attracted international design-media attention, including selection for Dezeen's ten emerging designers to watch at SaloneSatellite.
Now based in Tokyo, she creates and exhibits in Japan and abroad and serves as a special lecturer at Musashino Art University. Reinterpreting traditional techniques and material cultures through a contemporary lens, she works across craft, design and art. Her presentations are mainly in Europe and the United States, where her work has been highly regarded by museum professionals, gallerists and collectors.