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Alex Tieghi-Walker is a curator, writer and creative director whose project TIWA Select has moved between an online platform, exhibitions, gallery settings and maker-focused production. Its constant is not a fixed shop format but an attention to self-taught artists, folk craft, unusual materials and the stories that connect objects to places.
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Who is Alex Tieghi-Walker?
Alex Tieghi-Walker is a British-Italian curator and creative director based in New York City, known for bringing handmade objects and the people who make them into the same conversation. His work combines collecting, journalism, exhibition-making and relationship building with artists, craftspeople, galleries and design organizations.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Architectural Digest reported that Tieghi-Walker grew up on the coast of South Wales, the son of an Italian ceramicist and a British academic who specialized in ancient history. He spent part of his childhood in Italy, later lived in India, and returned to Italy in 2009 as a volunteer at the Venice Biennale. He began his professional career at Nowness in London.
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PIN–UP adds that he studied literature in London before working as a journalist and creative director. In Berkeley and Los Angeles, his homes became informal places to show local craft and host gatherings. Those domestic presentations were an early version of the approach that later became TIWA Select: objects were introduced through conversation, context and the relationships behind them rather than treated as anonymous merchandise.
Tieghi-Walker describes himself as self-taught in the fields he now works across. In a 2025 Wallpaper* interview, he said: “I don’t have any training in art or design. I’m entirely self-taught.” That background helps explain why his practice moves freely among craft, applied art, design, collecting and media instead of fitting neatly into one professional category.
What is TIWA Select?
TIWA Select is Tieghi-Walker’s evolving curatorial platform. Depending on the period and the account, it has functioned as an online presentation for found objects, a shop, a gallery and exhibition program, an artist-representation project, a media platform and a production-management service. It should not be understood as one permanent business model.
Architectural Digest’s 2021 description called TIWA Select a hybrid showroom, gallery and artist-representation agency. At that stage, it represented artists, sold their work online, was building an archive and resource guide to workshops, suppliers and fabricators, hosted exhibitions and was developing a studio intended to connect makers with brands. Those details describe the project at that time; they do not establish that every activity remains available today.
PIN–UP reported that Tieghi-Walker formalized the project in summer 2021 as something spanning gallery, shop, agency, media and production management. Frieze’s 2023 account traced a different sequence: an intended craft store in Berkeley became an Instagram-based platform for found objects during the pandemic, then developed into exhibitions and a small New York gallery setting at the National Arts Club.
The through-line is selection. TIWA Select brings attention to one-off or small-run work, regional traditions, maker biographies, provenance and the physical character of materials. A functional vessel, a sculptural wood form and a design object can appear together when their making histories offer a meaningful connection.
How did Alex Tieghi-Walker start TIWA Select?
The 2019 Kyoto turning point
Tieghi-Walker had collected antiques and unusual vintage pieces for years, but he identifies a visit to Kyoto’s Toji Temple flea market in 2019 as the decisive moment. Architectural Digest quoted him saying: “I’d always collected antiques and strange vintage pieces, but my big aha moment came when I was visiting the Toji Temple flea market in Kyoto in 2019.”
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From homes and gatherings to a public platform
Before TIWA Select had a formal identity, Tieghi-Walker used his homes as settings for showing local makers and bringing people together. The domestic scale mattered: visitors encountered objects in rooms, alongside books and everyday possessions, rather than in a neutral commercial display.
During the pandemic, the project shifted online. Frieze describes an Instagram platform for found objects that eventually led to physical exhibitions. The move from a proposed Berkeley craft store to a digital platform and then to gallery presentations shows why a single definition of TIWA Select is inadequate.
2020 establishment and 2021 formalization
Two dates appear in the published record. Tieghi-Walker’s official portfolio and Frieze describe TIWA Select as established or founded in 2020. PIN–UP says he formalized or launched it in summer 2021. The most precise reading is that the project began in 2020 and received a more formal public launch the following summer; the sources use different milestone language, so neither date should be presented as an undisputed single founding event.
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Its reported programming has included handmade objects, found pieces, exhibitions and work by makers whose practices may sit outside conventional design or art institutions. PIN–UP cited woodworker Vince Skelly, ceramic artist Jim McDowell, and glass artist Dana Arbib as examples of the kinds of makers associated with the platform.
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The objects can be useful, sculptural or deliberately in between. A cup, vessel or piece of furniture may retain evidence of a working process; an apparently decorative object may carry a material or regional history that is as important as its appearance. Frieze emphasized one-off work, provenance and the coexistence of artistic and functional objects.
Current inventory, purchasing terms, visitor arrangements and partner-program availability are not established by the available published accounts. Readers should therefore treat descriptions of online sales, exhibitions or representation as historical accounts tied to their dates, not as a guarantee of what can be bought or visited now.
How Tieghi-Walker curates makers and materials
Tieghi-Walker told PIN–UP: “I’m so drawn to the journey that brought the artists or makers to where they are. I like to lead with the story of the maker, but also the story of the material.” His exhibitions often begin with that double narrative.
Maker biography and route into practice
Formal credentials are not the only measure in TIWA Select’s selections. The platform has shown interest in self-taught makers and in the specific circumstances that led people to their practices. That can include inherited skills, regional traditions, work discovered outside galleries, or a personal response to available materials.
Material history
Material is treated as evidence. Tieghi-Walker’s example in the PIN–UP interview was Vince Skelly’s salvaged wood. A severe storm brought down trees, and Skelly used that wood for sculptures. The exhibition connected the finished pieces to the storm, the trees and the act of recovery, making the material’s history part of the viewer’s understanding.
Place and provenance
Regional craft traditions provide a geographic framework without reducing a maker’s work to a souvenir or stereotype. Provenance can mean where an object was found, where a material originated, which process shaped it, or how a community’s knowledge informed its making. This emphasis distinguishes TIWA’s approach from a display based only on style or trend.
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Function and sculpture
TIWA projects often leave the boundary between useful and purely visual objects open. A vessel can be handled and displayed; a piece of furniture can operate as a sculptural form; an object made for use can also record an experimental process. The point is not to force every work into a category but to let its making and purpose remain visible.
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A timeline of TIWA Select and related projects
| Year | Milestone | What the account establishes |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Toji Temple flea market, Kyoto | Tieghi-Walker later identified the visit as the catalyst for committing more fully to craft and found objects. |
| 2020 | TIWA Select established | His official portfolio and Frieze describe the project as founded or established in 2020. |
| Summer 2021 | Formalized public launch | PIN–UP uses this date for the project’s formalization and describes its gallery, shop, agency, media and production roles. |
| 2021 | Hybrid platform described by Architectural Digest | The account covered online sales, exhibitions, artist representation, a resource guide and planned maker-brand connections. |
| Spring 2023 | New York presence | PIN–UP reported a move to New York and a TIWA setting at the National Arts Club; Frieze documented the gallery there. |
| 2023 | The North American Pavilion | Tieghi-Walker’s official portfolio lists the project as a collaboration with Frieze’s No.9 Cork Street. |
| 2025 | “A Softer World” | Wallpaper* covered his London Design Festival and Brompton Design District programming under this theme. |
| Through March 7, 2026 | “Office Hours” at The Shop at Sadie Coles HQ, London | Wallpaper* described a temporary office-and-exhibition installation; it is a completed project, not evidence of a permanent London relocation. |
Projects beyond the original online format
The North American Pavilion
The official portfolio lists The North American Pavilion in 2023 as a collaboration with Frieze’s No.9 Cork Street. The title signals Tieghi-Walker’s interest in presenting North American makers and material cultures in a format that can sit between exhibition, platform and fair-related programming.
National Arts Club gallery setting
In spring 2023, PIN–UP reported that Tieghi-Walker had moved to New York and established a TIWA presence at the National Arts Club. Frieze’s May 2023 report documented the gallery there. These accounts describe a New York chapter of the project; they do not prove that the same room, exhibition schedule or visitor model continues.
“A Softer World” in London
For London Design Festival and the Brompton Design District in 2025, Tieghi-Walker developed programming titled “A Softer World.” Wallpaper* said the organizers were interested in his way of discussing the intersection of craft, applied arts and design. The theme reflects his preference for porous categories and tactile, materially specific work.
“Office Hours”
Wallpaper* reported in 2026 that Tieghi-Walker set up “Office Hours” at The Shop at Sadie Coles HQ in London. It operated both as a functioning office and as an exhibition, combining design objects with working tools and ordinary office contents. The report said it was scheduled through March 7, 2026; that temporary run has now ended. It should not be described as a permanent office or as evidence that Tieghi-Walker has relocated from New York.
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The PIN–UP account of the Vince Skelly exhibition reported that five percent of sales from that specific show went to the city of Claremont to replant trees. The arrangement connected Skelly’s storm-felled wood to an environmental response. It is a show-specific contribution, not a published general policy for every TIWA Select sale.
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How to read a TIWA Select project
When comparing exhibitions, makers or objects associated with Tieghi-Walker, four questions reveal more than a simple list of materials or prices:
- Where is the work presented? An Instagram post, a domestic gathering, a gallery, a design-district program and a temporary office each create a different relationship between object and viewer.
- What is the object’s role? Identify whether it is functional, sculptural or intentionally between those categories.
- How did the maker arrive at the practice? Look for self-taught routes, inherited knowledge, local traditions, professional training or an unusual personal history.
- What is the material and place story? Ask where the material came from, how it was transformed and what provenance the presentation makes visible.
These questions preserve the context that Tieghi-Walker says guides his attention. They also prevent the work from being reduced to an aesthetic label such as “rustic,” “folk” or “collectible.”
What is Alex Tieghi-Walker working on now?
The latest dated project in the published record is “Office Hours,” the temporary London installation that ran through March 7, 2026. The official portfolio identifies Tieghi-Walker as New York City-based, while Wallpaper* documents that London project as a time-limited exhibition and working office. No source here confirms a subsequent permanent relocation, a current exhibition schedule or the present availability of TIWA Select inventory.
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Wallpaper* also reported seeing A Dictionary of Color Combinations by Sanzo Wada on Tieghi-Walker’s desk while covering “Office Hours.” That sighting supports a contextual reading-list detail only; it does not establish a current TIWA listing, endorsement or purchase arrangement.
Why his practice matters to contemporary craft
Tieghi-Walker’s importance lies less in expanding a conventional gallery roster than in changing how objects are introduced. He links a maker’s biography to the material itself, places regional traditions beside contemporary experimentation, and allows useful and sculptural work to share a setting. The platform’s changing formats—home, social feed, exhibition, gallery and design program—are part of that argument.
For viewers, the result is a way to look at craft as both object and account: something made by a particular person, from a particular material, within a particular place and set of circumstances. TIWA Select’s history remains fluid, but that method of looking is the consistent thread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is TIWA Select a shop or a gallery?
It has been both, along with an online found-object platform, artist-representation project, exhibition program and proposed maker-brand studio. Published descriptions are tied to different years, so no single permanent format should be assumed.
Where is Alex Tieghi-Walker based?
His official portfolio describes him as New York City-based. A London project called “Office Hours” was a temporary installation scheduled through March 7, 2026, not a confirmed permanent move.
What kinds of makers does TIWA Select present?
Reported examples include self-taught and process-led makers such as woodworker Vince Skelly, ceramic artist Jim McDowell and glass artist Dana Arbib, alongside found objects and regional craft.
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