How did your creative path begin? Tell us about your life story
Our creative path began from two very different backgrounds. Johan grew up in Sweden and trained as a fine carpenter, developing a deep understanding of material, structure, and making. Ash grew up in Hong Kong and came from a communications background, shaped by storytelling, branding, and cultural narratives. When we met, we realised we shared a strong interest in design. Studio TOOJ grew out of this meeting point—using form and materiality as a way to tell our own stories through objects.
What was the first object you created, and how far is it from your today’s work?
One of our first pieces was the Dripotlé side table, which remains one of our best-selling piece of work. It focused on expressing nuanced details through a simple, restrained form. While our work today is still sculptural—quiet yet loud at the same time—the approach has evolved. We now often begin with a narrative or conceptual framework, which then gradually morphs into form, material, and function.
Where does your inspiration come from?
Much of our inspiration comes from personal experiences. Works like Burnout grew out of difficult moments and lived emotions. We are also influenced by ideas that linger—philosophy encountered through literature or film that stays with us over time. More recently, becoming parents has added another layer, sharpening our awareness of vulnerability, care, and the environments we create for future generations.
In what way does Stockholm influence you and your art?
Stockholm encourages restraint. There is a strong cultural sensitivity toward material honesty, silence, and balance. Living here has sharpened our focus on what is essential and allowed us to work with contrast—introducing disruption and ambiguity within a context that values calm and clarity. Nature, light, and seasonal shifts also play a quiet but constant role in our thinking.
You come from different countries and cultures. How did you find your common path?
Our shared path emerged through curiosity rather than similarity. Coming from different cultural backgrounds allows us to question assumptions and avoid a single aesthetic viewpoint. We connect through process—through conversations about why something should exist, not just how it should look. That dialogue is at the core of our artistic union.
The Burnout – Johan Wilén-Jong.
This work stems from my personal experience with burnout—a quiet, consuming collapse that arrives when persistence becomes self-destruction. I wanted to give form to that helpless tension between drive and depletion. The semi-translucent glass embodies anxiety’s paralysis: fragile yet heavy, light trying to break through darkness. The burnt structure supporting the armchair and side table symbolises the moment before collapse—the illusion that we can keep pushing, burning, and producing endlessly. Together, these elements form a meditation on exhaustion, resilience, and the fragility of the human need to endure.
We Are Not the Custodians of Earth – Ash Wilén-Jong
This series was inspired by Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, a book that profoundly reshaped how I see humanity’s place in the world. The series reflects on our illusion of superiority—our arrogance and entitlement to decide what deserves to live or disappear. Through sculptural ceramics, I question this deeply ingrained hierarchy and our struggle to simply coexist, both with other species and with one another. I hope that this work invites reflection – the Earth does not belong to us; we are part of it—brief visitors within a larger, self-sustaining system that needs no ruler.
What makes your work stand out? What unique qualities define it?
Our work sits between art and design. It looks familiar but behaves differently. We use material experimentation to create illusions that invite closer inspection, asking viewers to slow down and reconsider what they are seeing. Function is present, but never dominant—it coexists with ambiguity.
What makes yout work unique?
We treat objects as emotional structures. Our pieces are designed to hold tension—between strength and vulnerability, precision and imperfection. This balance, combined with material risk-taking and conceptual clarity, defines our practice.
How do you see yourselves in ten years?
In ten years, we hope to be working across larger scales—public spaces, architectural elements, and environments—while maintaining the same intimacy with material and process.
Where can someone find your work exhibited or available?
Our work has been exhibited internationally at fairs and exhibitions including Design Miami, Alcova during Milan Design Week, Collectible Brussels, Melbourne Design Week, and more. Our work is available through Wexler Gallery in the US and direct commissions for the rest of the world. We work in limited editions and site-specific pieces rather than mass production.
Photography @vildmark.studio
