Rio Kobayashi

Rio Kobayashi is an artist, designer and maker based in East London. Born in Japan to an artisan family, Kobayashi was later trained as a cabinet maker in Austria. He used to live and work in different cities around Europe before setting up his own practice in London. Over the past decade, Kobayashi has developed a refreshing body of work in a class by itself. Playful at heart, Kobayashi approaches the very fine craftsmanship with a crisp twist of humour. He experiments expansively with fabrication techniques based on solid knowledge in materials. The distinctive character in his work thrives on his unique taste in colour and form which is bold yet subtle at the same time. His work is multilingual and ever-evolving like himself, meticulously blending traditional crafts and cultural heritages into each thoughtful piece that constantly explores new narrative