i create, therefore i am .

DISTINCT DESIGN | CURIOUS CREATIONS | COOL COLLABORATIONS |  EVENT ARTISAN 

Contemporary light artist Olivia Steele harnesses the power of neon gas to manifest her provocative and sentimental confessions. Prioritizing the public sphere over the private, she spreads seductive, yet significant, particles of wisdom all over the globe in the form of site-specific land art and indoor installations that speak in a simplistic language. Her neon works are short, punctuated truths that mirror the ingenuity (or malaise) of the human experience. She encapsulates the contemporary storyteller and uses the traditional medium of neon, industrial road signage and handcrafted products to form her striking expressions that address the vortex of modernity.

Steele’s work has the unique ability to say it all (without saying too much) as she probes the existential questions surrounding life and death, hope and despair, love, belonging and faith. Proving that “it is the spectator and not life that art really mirrors”, Steele’s oeuvre is a synthesis of contrast and contradiction. Her inquiry into consciousness and the divine underpins her transformative installations, which serve as a guiding light for self-reflection and man’s search for meaning. Her erratic, unstable, creative upbringing – which was also framed by her parents’ struggle with mental health issues and their endless therapy – fuels her desire to dissect, reveal and expose her fascination with the human condition and our universal truths. In her practice, she often explores themes of introversion and spirituality, as well as the healing modalities and visionary qualities of plant medicines.

From Berlin to Beirut, Mexico City to Mumbai, Steele has earned an international reputation for her spirited neon interventions in public and rural surroundings. Always symbolic and sometimes irreverent, her short but vast 12 year career has given rise to an extensive body of text-based light art. Formed by hand and filled with gas, the words are activated by different materials, spaces and landscapes that prompt different forms of confrontational and interpretable meanings. Her glass acumens are often paired with found objects - vintage birdcages, religious relics, fuel tanks, fallen trees and infinity mirrors - that cast spells and conjure intimate emotions. 

In an endless endeavor to find new and unexpected ways to touch you, she has produced a line of wearable art, accessories and merchandise. These products are intended to impart thought-provoking reminders and mantras for those who wear them and gift them.  Her artworks and accessories offer sparks of hope and affirmation that intend to transcend the white cube and heighten the human experience. 

STEELE STYLE

Transforming  the ordinary into extra-ordinary is a labor of love. Playing with our innate attraction to light, materials, environments and energies, Steele style oozes contrast and creative contradiction yet reflects timeless taste and impeccable quality. In love with raw materials, periodic elements and found objects, Steele is able to produce a wide spectrum of stylistic form and function.

DO IT YOURSELF

"IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT, DO IT YOURSELF"  is my motto and a great tool for acquiring knowledge and skill. With a very hands-on approach to all projects, no detail goes unnoticed. Knowledge is power, skill is valuable and experience is priceless. In this day and age, having both the means and the ability to build and manifest my visions to my standard is another crucial element to success— and ultimate satisfaction.