OS X RG

"My work as an artist is to turn my dreams into responsibilities."
–Olivia Steele

made with love and intention

olivia steele
x
rita ghanime

Intention is everything. Love is what ignites the passion that goes into everything we do with reverence . For better or for worse. When it’s ceremonial, it feels like a marrying your own soul. It’s a spark ignited from the heart and the art is birthed in a prolonged exhale akin to an endless artgasm.

“My art is not about what I see… Its about what I invite you to see” are the words of contemporary light artist Olivia Steele, who has earned an international reputation for her spirited public neon happenings. Always symbolic and sometimes irreverent, her neon statements suspend time and motion.

Embodied Art: A Luminous way of dressing...
Five of Olivia iconic and internationally acclaimed + much coveted art has been transferred onto fabric and designed into luxurious silk lined Kimonos activated with messages fused with intention.

The art selections include:
'All that I ever wanted was everything'
'Everything you need is inside of you'
' I like where this is going...'
'I Dream of You in Colors that don't Exist' Child's Play collection
'The End' from the You Dropped a Bomb on Me collection

"We weren't t sure where this was going, but the journey has been the destination all along. And so it rolls on…"

When words are carefully strung together like your favorite holiday lights on acid- the world stands still- if only for a moment, to breathe in the meaning of something you might take a moment to swallow. And then see how you digest it from there. What ignites the lights, can ignite you. Spreading mass consciousness by empowering you to look deep within is what Olivia Steele’s art aims to do. It’s not for the meek nor the weak. It’s a magic carpet ride laced with self-reflection, authenticity and high-set horizons that seduce your soul by activating your purpose.

CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW + ORDER KIMONO COLLABORATION COLLECTION:

Photoshoot Credits
Kimonos: OS x RG (Olivia Steele x Rita Ghanime) Collaboration
Photographer: Julia Klotz
Models: Alex Beck, Hadiya Kisoba
Clothing separates: Uncino Ibiza
November 2018, Olivia Steele Studio, Berlin- Mitte

olivia + rita: art, synchronicity and sisterhood

Photos by Moranne Layani, Venice Beach, California, November 2019

Oivia is native of Nashville, Tennessee and currently resides in between Berlin, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Born in 1985 to a country music singer and a businessman, she grew up surrounded by nature between rolling hills of Tennessee and Tuscany. After completing her high school studies in Switzerland, she graduated University in Paris with a degree in Visual Communications and minor Psychology. It was after pursuing a Masters degree in lighting design that she found her calling as a multi-disciplinary creative.

Rita, a lover of words and their many meanings, had been admiring neon art and posting inspirational images as a stylist on her social media. A mutual friend messaged her and told her if she was compelled by those she should look at Olivia Steele’s work. An instant crush was created on Olivia’s work as Rita procured her words that peaked her curiosity. They clearly spoke the same language. Boldly creating with intention was at the core of both of their hearts (art).

Fast forward a few years later- sitting in a spectacular burlesque styled circus tent next to an absinth bar one evening at Burning Man, Rita sat on a love seat next to a woman in a top hat. They locked eyes, and immediately, Rita recognized her, and said- ‘Olivia??!’ And she rushed back to her tent to bring her a playa-gift- a kaftan of sorts in bright colors and fringes she had made her (pre-Kimono days- was a shawl) knowing that they would synergistically meet in this reality-bending world.

Years later, in 2018, as their connection deepened organically over time, a not so random deja -vu occurred as, once again, as they were at Burning Man, yet at different camps this time. One morning Rita emerged from a porta-pottie and as she opened it- Olivia’s RV was right in front of her. Olivia spun around holding up a bright orange roadsigns that read ‘Coincidence?’.

"The universe kept bringing us together," Rita said. "And a month later we made the reality of creating a Kimono collaboration and this is what we created."

An underground, soft quiet bespoke small first-run of hand-made set of Kimonos were made- 2 of each style. Art-collectors and Kimono-lovers were hooked. (see images below). Fast forward to summer of 2024- Rita decided to bring the "All I ever wanted was Everything" Kimono to Burning Man (where it was first dreamed of) and decides that on her last sunrise she would wear it and infuse it with the desire to let it be fully seen and launch it in the fall of 2024.