FEATURES • DESTINATIONS
ALAMÍ: Nature
reimagined through the
Patience of Artisan
Hands
Words & Photography by The Punch
Morning light filters through linen curtains at ALAMÍ Studio, soft and golden, touching rows of sculpted candles and handwoven textiles. The air hums with the scent of beeswax and frangipani from the garden outside. Nothing here feels hurried. Each object seems to carry its own breath, its own rhythm, its own quiet life.
Founded by Lesia, a decorator with an instinct for atmosphere, ALAMÍ was born from stillness. During the pandemic, she spent her evenings setting tables for friends and looking for natural candles that would burn clean and true. When she couldn’t find them, she began to make her own. What started as a simple act of creation slowly became a philosophy, a way to bring warmth and balance back into everyday life.
The word “Alamí” comes from the Indonesian for nature, and everything about the studio moves with that same patience. Its purpose is not just to make beautiful things, but to remind people of what beauty really is: something imperfect, something human, something that lasts.
THE FEELING OF HOME
ALAMÍ makes objects that bring people home, not only to the spaces they inhabit, but to a state of being that feels grounded and calm. Each piece shares this philosophy: sculpted candles that flicker like small suns, hand-carved marble forms that catch the light, and fabrics that hold the memory of touch.
In Lesia’s world, home is not just an address but a feeling–a place where you can finally exhale. The beauty of ALAMÍ lies in its intimacy. Nothing is mass-produced, nothing forced. Every line, curve, and imperfection speaks of human hands. Lesia sees authenticity where others might see flaw; she finds meaning in the uneven, the hand-touched, the alive.
The Hands That Shape
The studio’s creations emerge through collaboration with over twenty artisans and small workshops across Indonesia–makers who have carried their crafts for generations. Through them, marble becomes vessel, wax becomes light, and thread becomes stories.
To work with artisans, Lesia first learns their techniques. She studies how wax responds to air, how marble yields to chisel, how dye takes to fabric. Only then does the process begin. Each object is modeled, tested, and reimagined until it feels honest. It’s a conversation between old knowledge and modern form.
It is slow work, sometimes taking months, but the slowness is the whole point. In a world driven by speed, ALAMÍ’s pace feels radical. These partnerships do more than preserve tradition; they sustain communities. Many of the artisans now work from home, passing their skills to the next generation while staying close to their families. For Lesia, that is the truest success–the idea that craft can hold both heritage and livelihood, beauty and responsibility.
An Ecosystem of Making
Inside the studio, materials coexist like elements in a small ecosystem. Soy, coconut, and carnauba waxes are blended by hand. Wicks are made from recycled cotton, pigments drawn from minerals, wood reclaimed from other lives. Even the marble used for decor is locally sourced and carved in small batches. There’s no waste, only renewal, showing a steady rhythm of reuse and respect.
Step outside and the philosophy continues. Where concrete once sealed the earth, a garden now blooms with herbs and flowers. Bees hover lazily between basil and marigold, feeding on nectar before returning to their hives. Their wax, in turn, fuels the candles that glow inside. It’s a cycle of reciprocity: nature giving, humans shaping, light returning to nature once more.
Tradition, Reimagined
ALAMÍ’s creativity grows directly from its connection to the natural world. The studio’s latest textile collection, developed in collaboration with a nearby batik artisan, reflects this beautifully. Instead of relying on beeswax and heat, the team devised a new fabric-painting method that eliminates the energy-intensive steps of traditional batik. The process uses no gas, no boiling water, and produces no waste.
It happens outdoors, entirely dependent on the weather. On sunny days, pigments dry gently under open skies; on cloudy days, work pauses until nature allows it to run its true course. This surrender to rhythm becomes part of the design itself–a collaboration not only with artisans, but with time and sunlight.
Timeless by Design
Every decision at ALAMÍ circles back to “sustainability”, but not as a concept–as a lived practice. It’s present in the way materials are sourced, in how people are treated, and in how each object is designed to endure. The studio’s philosophy resists the excesses of modern consumption. There are no fleeting trends here, no seasonal drops or limited editions. What exists today will still belong tomorrow.
In Lesia’s view, an object becomes timeless when it continues to feel right long after it was made. That’s why each piece is built to age gracefully–to soften, to change, to gather traces of the surrounding life. A candle that burns through evenings, a fabric that fades in the sun, a bowl that wears the patina of time–these are not signs of decay but of memory. ALAMÍ’s beauty is not static; it evolves with its owner.
The Ritual of Care
Even the act of making is treated as ritual. Wax is melted slowly, poured carefully, cooled with intention. Fabrics are cut and dyed by hand, colors mixed through intuition rather than formula. What results are objects that feel both humble and precious–simple enough to live with, yet resonant enough to hold meaning.
This is not luxury in the conventional sense. It is quiet, lasting wealth–the kind found in well-made things that ask for care and offer calm in return. ALAMÍ doesn’t chase novelty; it perfects essentials. Each collection builds upon the last like chapters in a single story: the story of material, of land, of the people who keep it alive.
A Light That Endures
As the day fades, the studio glows golden. Shelves of candles catch the evening light, the garden hums outside, and somewhere, a pot of wax cools to stillness. The scent lingers in the air: warm, earthy, familiar.
ALAMÍ is proof that beauty doesn’t need to be loud to be felt. It endures in the rhythm of hands, in the hum of bees, in the quiet flame that lights a home. To hold one of its creations is to understand that design, at its most honest, is not about decoration but devotion–to craft, to nature, and to the delicate balance between the two.
Through its thoughtful work, ALAMÍ redefines what modern design can mean in Indonesia and beyond. It shapes modernity without forgetting its roots. Each piece whispers the same reminder: to live slowly, to make consciously, and to find warmth in the things that last.
At ALAMÍ, light is not just illumination. It is life, memory, and care–a warm reminder of what it means to come home.
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