If you told me 5 years ago that I’d be starting an art collectible brand, I would’ve laughed and not believed you.
Art always felt like such a big word to me. Even though I literally studied art since I was 5, and went to a design school, it’s still a word I avoid. I always felt like I didn’t know enough to really talk about it. And honestly, I still don’t know what “art” actually means.
Growing up I liked classical art mostly because of the history. I love rococo paintings for the romantic stories behind them, and I love walking around the Met reading the little descriptions under each piece. But contemporary art? I never felt like I truly understood it. It always felt a bit distant, like everyone else “got it” and I didn’t.
That changed when I discovered artists I connected with personally — like Yoshitomo Nara. I know it sounds cliché because literally every Asian loves him, but for me it was the rebelliousness in his work. Something about it just spoke to me. I realized what I actually want from a piece isn’t whether it’s “high art,” but whether I can feel the message, the story, the emotion, the artist behind it.
And weirdly, that understanding came to life the most in my home. If you’ve ever been to my apartment, you know I’m very intentional about my space. I collect things that make me feel something; I arrange objects because of the story they carry. I never framed it as “art collecting,” but looking back, that’s really what it was — learning how to live with pieces that reflect who I am.
That’s when it clicked for me: art doesn’t have to be complicated when it’s part of your everyday life. It can be warm. It can be playful. It can sit on your shelf and still mean something.
I think art can be commercialized, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think art should be visible, approachable, something you can live with. To me, they’re just little stories in object form, and I want people to have access to that. I believe in my own taste and my ability to find talented emerging artists, and I’m excited to bring their worlds into your world — onto your shelf, your desk, your bag.
And before you even realize it, you’re part of a collector community. You start valuing taste and the feeling behind things, just like we do. That’s the world I want OOi to build — warm, personal, a little tender, a little rebellious, and full of stories you can actually hold.