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Curriculum Vitae
Career
Michaela Keil is an analytical mastermind with an artistic streak - a rare synthesis that runs consistently through her education and professional development. After an art-oriented school education with a thesis on Dadaism and Surrealism, she decided to study economics at WU Vienna and the University of Vienna. Her master's degrees in controlling and energy and environmental management already show her drive to not only analyze systems, but to make them more sustainable.
In her career in a large industrial company, she combines technological excellence with strategic thinking: from quality management to software processes and product security to management functions in the field of IT/OT integration in industry. Today she is responsible for complex production monitoring systems. At the same time, she maintains a sensitivity for materiality, structure and resource cycles in her artistic work - thus combining the rational thinking of technology with the depth of artistic expression.
Statement
The Viennese artist Michaela Keil, who is behind the reARTivated project, embodies a new form of artistic engagement with what surrounds us every day - and often slips away. Her works do not arise from a desire for pure aesthetics, but from an inner need: to show attitude, create awareness, make processes visible. For her, art is a dialog - between material and idea, between past and future, between man and environment. With an analytical eye, a structured approach and a keen sense of clarity, she brings order to what others overlook.
Coming from the world of data, systems and industrial processes, Keil has developed her own artistic language - reduced, well thought-out, open to transformation. The basis of her works is often inconspicuous at first glance: everyday objects, packaging material, remnants of consumption. But these materials carry a history - and become carriers of new meaning under the young label reARTivated. What seemed to be discarded is consciously rethought, recombined and recharged.
for Michaela Keil, reARTivated is much more than a strategy - it is an expression of her inner conviction and forms the foundation of her mission. Her creative process is driven by passion and joy. Passion is her driving force - she works with focus, energy and passion. Joy, in turn, is the power that arises from this work: the feeling when structure becomes freedom, when meaning emerges from the everyday. Her art does not follow a predetermined goal, but an inner rhythm - open to change, supported by attitude and curiosity.
As a gallery owner, I see in reARTivated not only an independent artistic mission, but also an attitude that operates with foresight - a position that takes responsibility without pandering. I am convinced that Michaela Keil will make a relevant contribution to the artistic discourse of our time with reARTivated. Her work shows that transformation does not have to be loud to be effective - and that art that arises from attitude can reach many.
Art collectors in particular, who are looking for a dialog with upcoming artists, will discover refreshing impulses in Keil's work. reARTivated consciously transcends genre boundaries and opens up markets beyond traditional pigeonholes - aesthetically, conceptually and emotionally convincing. It is an artistic position with quiet power and growing resonance - created for a changing world.
Philosophy
ReARTivated - The power of transformation.
Use the power of what already exists to transform the future
"Make something of it!" Instead of constantly striving for something new, the real challenge and beauty often lies in using what already exists and giving it new value. Using existing resources instead of creating "new" is not only a question of sustainability, but also an invitation to creativity. After all, who says you always need something completely different to create something new?
Waste can be more than the sum of its parts - it is often the things that are seen as worthless that can become something completely new and valuable in the right hands. The "reArtivated" brand created by Michaela Keil aims to enhance things, make them valuable and open up new perspectives from their supposed insignificance.
The vision of a truly circular economy is more than just a trend: it requires us not only to recycle, but to truly value what we already have. It's about playing with what's already there, experimenting and creating something new by recombining and changing what already exists. Finding joy and inspiration in what already exists is the key. The challenge lies in sharpening your eye for the unfamiliar and looking at what surrounds you with new eyes. The path to a creative, resource-conserving future lies in consciously looking around us in our everyday lives and surroundings, re-evaluating things and developing sustainable ideas. This is the only way we can develop as a society and take the necessary steps to bring about real change.
ReARTivated means rethinking and redesigning things with a creative approach. It's not just about the result, but also about the process of transformation itself, which inspires and motivates the artist to see things differently. Sorting and structuring can help to recognize the potential of what is already there and to consciously decide how it can be used further. The step from idea to realization requires both the joy of experimentation and orderly structures in order to see new possible combinations. In the end, the realization of the artistic process is that the basis is often already there - we just have to re-evaluate it.
Make something of it! - reARTivated: The power to rethink what already exists | Sonja
In a world that is constantly striving for the new, reARTivated sends a quiet but powerful signal: "Make something of it!" - not out of lack, but out of conviction. Michaela Keil, the founder of reARTivated, takes what others overlook and transforms it into something new and meaningful through artistic clarity, precise craftsmanship and aesthetic intuition. Her work shows: Transformation begins where you start to take a closer look - and look at what already exists with new eyes.
The reARTivated project not only stands for creative recycling, but for an artistic attitude that makes processes visible, carries stories forward and shifts perspectives. The materials used - packaging, everyday objects, second-hand items - have a past life. In Keil's hands, they become carriers of a new message, silent statements about value, change and perception.
This form of artistic work ties in with the vision of a genuine circular economy - not as a trend, but as an inner attitude. reARTivated sees design as an invitation to reflect, as a plea for the essential. For a future that does not rely on throwing things away quickly, but on consciously combining and designing. That elevates the inconspicuous - and shows how art can act as a transformative force.
Artistic techniques and approaches
Acrylic Pouring - controlled letting go - intuitive, spontaneous, from the moment.
Michaela Keil combines analytical thinking with creative freedom through pouring - a combination that makes reARTivated so distinctive.
One of the central techniques is Acrylic Pouring - a flow technique in which paint is not applied to the canvas with a brush, but through controlled pouring. Chance becomes a co-creator, structure and intuition intertwine. In the works, pouring becomes a symbol of creative work:
- Materiality & Craft: The colors flow onto surfaces that already have a history - often discarded, forgotten, inconspicuous.
- Transformation & Aesthetics: What was once packaging or an object of daily use becomes part of a new aesthetic structure.
- Structure & Freedom: The material is not controlled - it is directed. Conscious decisions in the moment give rise to surprisingly clear compositions through the free flow of colors and shapes.
- Immediacy & uniqueness: Each process is unique. No work can be repeated - and this is precisely where its value lies.
Pouring is seen as a classic, haptic process because - despite its often experimental and fluid aesthetic - it is deeply rooted in the tradition of painting.
Artistic techniques & creative attitude - rethinking with what is there
For reARTivated, the bottom-up principle is an important approach: "saving" materials that already exist instead of wasting them and looking for new ones. Using materials that are already there requires a rethink, but it is one of the most effective methods of conserving resources and finding creative solutions. It is an appeal to us all to recognize the potential of things in our everyday lives instead of always striving for the "new".
This attitude is radical - in the best sense of the word. It not only saves resources, but also opens up spaces. For alternative perspectives. For unexpected combinations. For new interpretations of the seemingly familiar. It is an artistic process that begins with mindfulness and ends with transformation. The French artist Francis Picabia once aptly put it: "The head is round so that thinking can change direction." This is precisely where reARTivated comes in - and is precise, calm and consistent in its concept.
Creativity is an enrichment and a necessity - because often the solution to the challenges of the future lies precisely in the reinterpretation of the existing. How else could a society succeed in reinventing itself if it does not appreciate the existing in the creative process and does not allow the creative process of the "new" to flow in?
Digital art ("AI")
Digital technologies and artificial intelligence open up new perspectives for art. These technologies also use what already exists and transform it into something new - often at breathtaking speed. Just as artificial intelligence creates something new from existing data and patterns, art also unfolds in a continuous process of evolution and experimentation.
What may seem contradictory at first glance reveals a deep affinity on closer inspection: acrylic pouring uses flowing paint and targeted movement to create patterns that defy control - like snapshots of chance. AI art also draws on existing data, recombines existing elements and generates surprising forms from algorithmic logic. Both processes combine structure with spontaneity, intuition with systematics. The result: unique pieces that not only reflect technology, but also understand the creative process as a dynamic interplay between man, material and machine.
The combination of artificial intelligence and contemporary art techniques such as acrylic pouring opens up new creative possibilities. Here, human impulse meets algorithmic precision, intuition meets computing power. This symbiosis gives rise to works that go beyond traditional forms and reveal new aesthetic ways of thinking.
As with pouring, where paint moves freely across the canvas and chance is part of the concept, AI also works with open structures and non-linear processes. What is created cannot be planned - but points the way forward. The freedom of thought is explored anew, the creative act becomes a dialog between man and machine.
In his "Surrealist Manifesto", André Breton advocates the free play of the mind - detached from control and intention. AI-based art also follows this logic: it draws on invisible data streams and generates surprising, often dream-like works. Just as surrealism made the unconscious visible, AI brings the hidden into new, surreal forms - as a mirror of thinking beyond convention.
The fusion of AI and techniques such as acrylic pouring creates a new form of unique piece - a work that transcends the boundaries of technology and traditional art. The result is a symbiosis of man, machine and creative energy that opens up new dimensions. It is not just about change, but about actively shaping the future - by combining digital possibilities with the desire for individuality and creative expression. The combination of AI and analog technology becomes an enrichment - an impulse to rethink the familiar and make the unexpected visible.