I am Chains, a transdisciplinary artist, designer, and cultural strategist whose work explores the intersection of activism, sustainability, and technology. With a background spanning fashion, furniture, textile design, and digital innovation, I create immersive experiences that challenge conventional production models and material consumption. My practice is rooted in zero-impact, circular design principles, utilizing post-consumer materials and community-driven processes to redefine what sustainable living can look like.
Before pivoting fully into my art practice, I spent 15 years as a creative director in the fashion and technology industries, where I developed an insider's perspective on corporate virtue signaling and mass consumption. This experience fuels my work, which seeks to provoke critical conversations about labor, ecology, and personal responsibility in the face of late capitalism.
Through installations, performance, and digital exploration—including web3 and metaverse-based projects—I aim to create aspirational yet functional worlds that embody holistic activism. My latest work, Portal to 3000, envisions a future where sustainability is no longer a choice but a necessity, immersing audiences in a reimagined, circular way of life. By merging fine craft with technology and activism, I create living narratives that challenge, inspire, and offer a vision for a radically sustainable future.
“Her expansive knowledge and experience of marketing, new media, creative production, branding and trend forecasting has been sought by numerous brands far and wide throughout Canada and the US. Steph’s utilizing and authentic approach is evident in all that she does: from her handmade quilts that have been a creative outlet since childhood, to her inspiration reference points that stem from anti-establishment mentalities, 1960’s sci-fi movies and everything in between.”