“An artist’s role is to live a remarkable life and report back on it in their work.”

These are words contemporary artist Andrew J. Steel lives by. For him, art is a form of storytelling – one that’s rooted in exploration.

It’s an idea Andrew traces back to his childhood. Growing up in a small, quiet part of New Zealand, he spent a lot of time skateboarding around his hometown and observing the structures and natural settings that surrounded him.

“A skateboard can be a lot of kids’ first vehicle, a way you can learn to move around without Mum, and a means to explore and discover what architecture you can play with. I got hooked,” Andrew says. 

He’s since traded in skateboarding for driving – and observing for creating – but this formative experience in his youth connected him with his environment and ignited his passion for exploration. 

“I loved the freedom of rolling around, making a playground of a town or city and connecting with the community,” he says. “I experienced the world through a creative lens, and became increasingly curious about culture, architecture and the creative opportunities it offered.”

You can see these experiences come alive in Andrew’s art, expressed through his whimsical and unpretentious signature style. Originally a street artist, many of his illustrations now adorn public buildings around New Zealand and are a cherished part of the local landscape. 

Beyond large-scale projects and public artworks, Andrew’s work also spans private interiors, fine artwork, letterpress and digital works, and he has received international recognition from collectors, architects and designers.

A city through new eyes

Though Andrew’s passion for art has taken him around the world, including the US, Australia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Iceland, he says moving to Auckland – where he now lives and works – was life-changing for him. It’s where he met like-minded creative people and continued honing his distinctive style. 

“I found myself influenced by a new diverse culture, and the great creativity that comes with that,” he says. 

“The city is a melting pot, and it was creatively seductive. I initially only painted outside walls but grew to painting indoors as well. Connecting these two worlds opened doors both literally and metaphorically, forging the start of an art career for me.”

Coming from an academic family, Andrew also pursued studies in science: “Science helped me understand the world, and art helped me interact with it.” 

Despite this grounding in logic, Andrew’s approach to his art is playful and unfettered. Every work tells an immersive and engaging story – one viewers are invited to be part of.  

“I’m lucky to now have a large studio, which is a factory of ideas and experiments. I spend a lot of my spare time between projects playing with different ideas, aesthetics and mediums,” he says.

“My art style is naive, but my approach is professional… each artwork’s composition is heavily considered, and each image within it is a personalised reference to who I'm working with,” Andrew explains. 

“My approach to art is more personal and collaborative, where we explore ideas, stories and a home’s architecture together.”

Between worlds

Despite his lively creative mind, there’s a peaceful sense of order to Andrew’s artistic practice – a balance between the ebb and flow, between city life and the natural world. 

Each day, Andrew immerses himself in nature by taking a swim in the ocean. He also carves out time to read to maintain his focus. 

“Art is both a high-intensity sport and a life of freedom… discipline goes a long way to keep up with a multitude of projects, conceptualise them and then individually create them by hand,” he explains. “I find my mind’s sharper and more creative when I read and spend time in nature.”

For a recent project, Andrew was able to fully immerse himself in the natural world. Creatively, this was a dream come true for the artist. 

“I drove to a remote part of the country where I stayed on site to create the work slowly. My client’s home was beautifully designed – with its architecture complementing the landscape and its outlook focusing on a lake vista. I got to know the people who commissioned me personally, and staying among nature in the area I was working in allowed me to have a deeper appreciation for the project.”

For a keen outdoorsman like Andrew, the Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 SUV has been a fantastic travelling companion these last few months. “It’s been a game-changer. The boot space is absolutely perfect for carrying my numerous art supplies and for safely delivering large artworks,” he says. 

“I’ve also had the chance to take it to the beach and test its off road abilities. It’s really a car that can do both.”

As the enduring adage suggests, ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss’ – be it rolling by skateboard or by Mercedes-Benz. Fittingly, Andrew’s advice to emerging artists is a motto he exemplifies, “Live prolifically and make prolifically”. In other words: keep rolling.