Batten and Kamp

Bio

Batten and Kamp is the collaborative art and design practice of Alexandra Batten (b. 1990) and Daniel Kamp (b. 1991), an Aotearoa New Zealand-born duo who create conceptual furniture and sculptures. Their work blends organic and artificial elements in meticulously crafted, minimalist compositions. Drawing on science fiction, natural history, and the primordial, their creations explore contrasts—bolting angular chairs to raw boulders, dripping delicate neon lights from aluminum branches, and immortalizing flowers in titanium. At times precarious and thought-provoking, their works challenge notions of comfort and progress, while others evoke calm, reflecting the natural landscapes of their Aotearoa upbringing. In 2023, Design Anthology recognized them as the leading emerging designers from the Asia Pacific region.

Rocks are a recurring motif in their practice, symbolizing the earth’s permanence and weight. They are best known for their Steel and Stone series (2020), a collection of functional artworks where minimal sheet metal structures encase found stones. This series has since entered private and public collections worldwide. Other notable works include Elsewhere (2021), a collection of futuristic domestic objects featuring silk collages, cast aluminum, and 3D-printed titanium; and Sex Tape (2023), a conceptual artwork where the duo sealed a recording of their intimate lives inside a glass coffee table. In 2024, they debuted Titan, a pair of monumental lounge chairs, alongside the announcement of their representation by the world’s leading design gallery Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Batten and Kamp have exhibited globally, including solo shows at Art Central Hong Kong (2022), Novalis Art Design (2021), and Design Art Tokyo (2020) where they won the Design Art Tokyo Under 30 Award. They have participated in many group exhibitions including with Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris, Objective Gallery in Shanghai, and Love House in New York. Their work has been featured at prestigious fairs such as PAD Paris, and Art Basel Hong. Commissions include projects for the Palace Museum of Hong Kong and Art Central. Their works are in the permanent collection of OMM Museum, Turkey, currently on display in the institution’s fifth-anniversary exhibition, Creatures of Comfort.

Raised in Aotearoa, Daniel Kamp grew up on a remote farm in Hawkes Bay, while Alexandra Batten’s childhood in Christchurch was shaped by her parents’ creative pursuits in landscaping and interior design. After meeting during their design and architecture studies at Victoria University of Wellington (2008–2012), they began a romantic and creative partnership. In 2020, they formalized their collaborative practice, leaving behind individual careers to found Batten and Kamp.