CHAINS
Artist. Strategist. Protocol.
Chains is the transdisciplinary identity of Steph Hoff, a former commercial creative director turned systems artist. Her work operates at the intersection of ritual, network ethics, and human-machine ecology—constructing speculative infrastructures for post-capitalist life.
With a background in global brand storytelling and a lived critique of it, Chains doesn’t just make art—she intervenes. Through Sacred Protocol, her ongoing research into AI, symbolism, and spiritual design, she explores how decentralized tools might enable new forms of collective memory, care, and sovereignty.
Her practice resists traditional art world validation, opting instead to encode her works directly into distributed systems and peer-to-peer archives. Zines, shrines, Telegram groups, digital relics, and prayer protocols become vectors—ways of restoring symbolic depth to a world stripped bare by optimization.
Currently, Chains lives and works from the Great Lakes basin, collaborating with open-source networks, AI agents, and the unseen intelligence of plants. She believes in the sacred utility of design: not as surface, but as infrastructure for being.
“Simply stated: Steph Hoff is a unicorn. Whether she’s pairing clashing prints, taking proportions to the extreme or blurring traditional gender lines, everything she does just works. A fan of Maison Margiela tabis, elevated sportswear and luxury denim in all shapes and sizes, the creative director turned transdisciplinary artist exudes a prowess for styling, and the confidence to pull it all off. Don’t be fooled by the prevalence of Bottega Veneta, Issey Miyake and Marine Serre on her IG feed; her closet is chock full of incredible vintage pieces too. This is *the* account to reference for style inspiration, no matter who you are.”
“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.”