Selected Work

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Projects that show how Japanese techniques, materials, and collaboration can move between craft, design, and art—and come to belong in contemporary life and space.

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What These Projects Represent

Selected Work is not a catalog. It is a record of how works living between craft, design, and art are brought into context.Our work often begins with translation: between material and setting, tradition and contemporary use, Japanese making and North American context. These projects show different scales of that practice—from dining environments and lighting studies to textile collaborations and domestic use.

Case Study 1
Calico Wallpaper Dinner

Site-specific textile development for a shared table

For a dinner collaboration with Calico Wallpaper, thé‑En developed hand-dyed Japanese linen for a spatially sensitive dining setting. The project reflected our interest in how textile, hospitality, and atmosphere can work together—not as backdrop, but as part of the experience itself.

Case Study 2
Ladies & Gentlemen Studio

Exploring kurimayu silk in a contemporary lighting context

In collaboration with Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, thé‑En explored the use of kurimayu silk within a contemporary design language. The project demonstrates how traditional material intelligence can enter a new form without losing its integrity—and how a functional object can carry the presence of a work.

Case Study 3
Sanya Kantarovsky for Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto · Art Basel, Basel · 2023

Nishijin technique translated into an artistic context

This collaboration involved Japanese textile knowledge in dialogue with a contemporary artwork. Through Nishijin brocade and related techniques, the project reflects thé‑En’s role in bringing highly specialized making into new artistic and cultural frameworks.

Two works were produced — one in Hikihaku, an ancient technique using lacquered foils of silver, platinum, and lapis lazuli cut into threads and woven into silk, with vintage foils over 50 years old that few living artisans can still work with; the other fully handwoven in Tsuzure-ori, naturally dyed with moss, leaves, mud, and fungi, and finished with hand embroidery. Both pieces are still changing color.

Both traveled to Art Basel, Basel, with Taka Ishii Gallery in June 2023.

Case Study 4
Morea Kitchen & Home Linen Development

Everyday textile culture, shaped for contemporary use

Alongside one-of-a-kind collaborations, thé‑En has also worked on kitchen and home linen collections that bring Japanese sensibility into daily domestic life. These projects are quieter in scale, but central to our thinking: how material care, use, and beauty live together in the home.

Case Study 5
Kondaya Genbei × Victoria and Albert Museum

Hikihaku Obi · Permanent Collection · London · 2020

Seven obi pieces crafted by Kondaya Genbei — one of Kyoto's most distinguished Nishijin textile houses — are now part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, as part of their landmark kimono exhibition. The V&A produced a film in Kyoto documenting the Hikihaku technique — an ancient process in which lacquered foils of gold, silver, platinum, and lapis lazuli are applied to washi paper, cut into threads finer than hair, and woven into silk by hand. This project was led by thé-En's founder, working as a cultural consultant for Kondaya Genbei prior to the launch of thé-En.

Watch the V&A film below.

Beyond the Individual Project

Whether a project begins with a room, a material, an artwork, or a conversation, the process is similar: define the context, identify the right maker or technique, shape the development, and support the final placement. Selected Work is a record of how things can be made to belong—and how use and artistic presence can coexist.

If a project calls for care, context, and the right collaboration, let’s begin.

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