Bridget Steenkamp

Bridget Steenkamp is a multiply neurodivergent artist with a deep commitment to sustainability and storytelling. Although neurodivergent throughout her life, she only received a formal diagnosis shortly before embarking on postgraduate study. This pivotal moment helped shape her creative practice, which is autoethnographic in nature—drawing from personal experience to initiate broader conversations around the celebration of neurodiversity.

Steenkamp’s work embraces what she describes as “neuro-beautiful” traits, challenging the pressures of conforming to a neurotypical ideal. Having spent years trying to fit into a rigid, cookie-cutter mold, she now rejects the notion that such a standard truly exists. Instead, her work honors the richness and variety of neurodivergent perspectives.

Alongside her academic pursuits as a part-time university student, Steenkamp finds joy in working with natural and recycled materials. Her practice is both tactile and spiritual—a means of connecting with others, engaging with the natural world, and experiencing what she describes as a sense of divine presence through the act of making.