Yes,And

Michael Berwin, one of my closest friends, passed me Outlier and the house. We talked, and I came away inspired to see if there's space, and excitement, for some collaboration.

I'm coming to California anyway. I'm heading to Ojai to install new works for a collector, and to see my best friend, Jessey Cinis, who I hear you know too. From there, San Francisco is a short flight up the coast. Afterwards I head on to Mexico for a show at Zona Maco.

The idea in short: I stay with you for a few days, or up to twelve, between 1 and 12 December. I make work in the house, give a talk on creativity and collaboration and, if you want it, bring a show.

The best intro is this short film on part of my work as a visual artist. I also do creative direction, and I run an artist residency myself, AIR, with two locations. I'm passionate about spaces, creativity and bringing people from different disciplines together.

Nothing here is fixed. It could be a workshop, an artist talk, a capsule collection, a space exploration, or just a cup of tea.

1 to 12 December 2026, all of it or a few days. Wearable art is an add-on: a capsule together, or a pop-up shop.

For ten years every piece was finished in Ole's head before he made it. In his words, he had become a fulfillment center for his own ideas. So in 2017 he set up an embroidery studio in Bali with no experience of the medium, and jumped. The film above is about that jump.

What he brings is the practice that came out of it, the one he has taught for years: follow the strongest pull, build on what is already there, and pass the work on.

He has done this before, most recently with Nômade Temple Ibiza.

The works are embroidered paintings: drawn in chalk by Ole, then stitched by his studio in Ubud on linen, cotton and retroreflective cloth. The retroreflective ones light up when a beam finds them, and look different from every spot in the room.

Move across the work

A show, if you want one

Nothing has to travel for the residency. If a show appeals, a few works can come, chosen once Ole has seen the rooms.

In motion

Ole stays in the house and works in it, like a guest who happens to be a painter, for a few days or up to twelve.

• Draw in the house. Fast, in chalk: rooms, staircases, the people passing through.
• Or hang his work. Ole brings works from his studio, framed and hung around the house while he stays.
• Shown as it happens. What he makes at Outlier goes out on his social media, day by day.
• An open studio night. One evening the room opens, with food, a drink and the music loud.

Why creativity and collaboration are our species' superpower, and where they go next.

Ole speaks from three places: his own art practice, more than a decade of The Most Realistic Alien, and his upcoming book, Unfuck Your Creativity. One evening, wherever suits the house. Then the room draws.

Photo: Lucie Kanehl

• Two pairs of hands. Ole draws in chalk, his team in Ubud stitches; the work exists only when both show up.
• Yes, and. The book's rule: build on what's there, don't replace it, with a needle and with another person.
• Draw an alien. The live moment: the room gets two instructions and makes a wall together.

Draw an alien.
Make it realistic.

The Most Realistic Alien is a collaborative artwork, initiated by Ole, that everyone who draws adds to; every alien hangs whole, with the same space as the next. From 2027 to 2126 it becomes one book a year, a hundred-year call-out from planet Earth. At Outlier it can be the live moment in the talk, or a workshop of its own.

Four short modules from Unfuck Your Creativity, Ole's book in the making (unfuckyourcreativity.com). Each runs on its own, any day of the stay.

UKENA is Ole's wearable art: the line on the wall and the line on the cloth are the same hand. Every piece is tied to a real artwork, so you can hang the work, wear it, or take home both.

Wearable art in motion

An add-on, only if it fits

Ole Ukena is a Berlin-trained contemporary artist with a 20-year practice, working between Bali, Berlin and Brazil. He trained at the Universität der Künste Berlin under Lothar Baumgarten, Daniel Richter and Hito Steyerl. His work has shown at Centre Pompidou, Paris and Paris Photo, Grand Palais; he holds a permanent spatial commission (Space Bloom, Genezarethkirche Berlin) and exhibited at Zona Maco, Mexico City in 2026. Nightmares on Wax wore his work on an album cover; the critic Jerry Saltz has shared it. In 2021 he built FLOWSTATE at Funkhaus Berlin.

Crucially for Outlier: Ole isn't an artist bolting art onto a hotel. He founded and runs AIR — an artist residency in Ubud, Bali — a house that already merges art, architecture, interior design and hospitality into one experience. He works inside this industry. He also founded UKENA (wearable art) and co-founded the music label IAMYOU with Deer Jade. Three ventures, one hand.

The first step is a short call. If it feels right, Ole comes for a few days, or all twelve.

WhatsApp Ole →

oleukena.com →