Martha Steele (b.2002) is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and organic farmer based in Attiwandaronia, newly named “Hamilton”, Ontario. Graduating from Queen's University's Bachelor of Fine Arts and Humanities (Honours) Program last spring, where she worked primarily in sculpture and new media, her practice explores the intersections of art, ecology, and queer identity. Rooted in land-based learning, Steele’s work fuses studio methodologies with ecological stewardship.

Steele’s rootedness in the intersection of art and ecology solidified while working at Root Radicals, an organic CSA farm on Howe Island. This experience informed One Day I’ll Build an Earthship, her BFA honours thesis, which investigated the concept of ‘earthships’ , imagining the potential for recycled materials to create symbiotic, queer-coded spaces of connection and care. Using locally sourced glass and metal, she investigated how agricultural and trade skills—carpentry, welding, seed-saving—translate across farm and studio practices. Through fieldwork and participation in the Loving Spoonful's Farm-Specific Trades Program and the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI), Steele connected with queer and allied communities committed to decolonization and environmental sovereignty. These networks continue to inform Steele’s inquiry into queer ecologies, recycled materials, speculative futures, and archival research.

Steele’s work has been exhibited across Ontario including at the Hamilton Art Circuit, Canadian Summit Centre, Union Gallery, and Agnes Etherington Art Centre. She looks forward to deepening her roots within the Ontarian arts community as she prepares for graduate studies in Art and Ecology in 2026.