Daniel Shapiro is a lighting and furniture designer based in St. Louis, Missouri, working primarily in clay. His work blends functionality with sculptural playfulness, a sensibility shaped by two decades as a graphic designer and Art Director. Translating ideas from the screen into three-dimensional form, Daniel’s pieces are at once tactile, graphic, and expressive.

Originally from a small town in Missouri, Daniel’s path has taken him through Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, each city leaving its mark on his creative voice. He discovered clay as his medium in 2017 and founded his Los Angeles studio in 2019. In 2021, he returned to Missouri to be closer to family and to expand his studio practice, an inflection point that brought a new clarity and ambition to his work.

Daniel’s collections are characterized by bold forms, unexpected silhouettes, and a sense of movement and humor that challenge traditional ideas of lighting and furniture. In 2023, he debuted his Squiggle series at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, earning the Editor’s Award for Best Lighting. The following year, he introduced The Rumpus Collection, further establishing his playful, form-driven design language. His work has continued to garner recognition, including the ICFF Editor’s Award for Best Body of Work in 2025.

Today, Daniel’s studio practice bridges art and design, creating pieces that are as joyful as they are functional, objects meant to bring light, both literal and emotional, into the spaces they inhabit.