Kai Drobish: Places and Faces

Kai Drobish was raised on the bayou in Houma, Louisiana. She has always been active in creating, following in the footsteps of her mom who painted, crafted, and sold her work. In college, Kai started building ceramic work, but switched majors out of practicality. Ironically, 15 years later Kai currently makes a living selling ceramics. When hurricane Katrina took everything from her, she relocated to Lafayette and witnessed her career take off exponentially.

As an avid lover of architecture, Kai explores the idea of buildings as spaces of belonging, culture, and safety – the places in which we laugh and love. This curiosity of what these spaces would say if they could talk informs most of Kai’s work as she creates replicas of those special places. Kai wholesales her work to boutiques, creates custom pieces of family homes, and produces hundreds of pieces for businesses, churches, sororities, and schools to use as fundraisers and gifts. From a lighthouse in Australia to churches in nearly every European country, Kai’s work is appreciated across the world.

While buildings are and always will be the main focus of her work, she has begun to create faces to celebrate the people who live and work within these buildings. Kai Drobish has recreated some of Lafayette’s most iconic buildings and the many unique characters that inhabit them as a manifestation of her love for this city.