Colorful plexiglass panes stand next to styrofoam plates, in front of them are various LED cables and wires. When Sara Misztela pursues her art, it looks more like a workshop than an atelier. She has been building custom neon signs for two years. It started with an empty wall in her own bedroom, but now she can’t keep up with the orders.
Sara had always liked neon signs, but none suited her bedroom. “Then I thought to myself: how difficult can it be to do something like this yourself?” she says. A YouTube tutorial and some trial and error later, she held her first sign in her hand. Is that not dangerous? “I wasn’t afraid of contact,” says Sara. Through her work as an audio engineer she already had experience with electronics.
Besides designing the neon signs, Sara has been painting since she was young. “The signs have become the perfect balance to painting for me,” says Sara. For her, painting means making decisions. Here she now focuses on upcycling old Ikea canvases. She particularly likes to add Japanese-inspired motifs such as the Godzilla girl or stuffed animals.
Their neon signs are now particularly popular with bands and artists. She has already created some for the shows by Malik Harris, cosby or also for Samuel Koch. Sara hides the cables behind the LED strips with precision work and adds special features such as reflective fabrics. “Precise things are my thing. I’m, I would almost say small-minded, definitely fine motor,” she says.
For the past two years, Sara has been working part-time to have more time for her art. “I can also very well imagine concentrating on it completely,” she says. “I want to turn the visions of others into reality and make rooms shine.” The next planned step is to combine the two disciplines and create paintings with LED light strips.
Her biggest challenge so far, which she is currently working on, is the design of the light installation in the new bar Live/Evil in the Fat Cat. In addition, more than 30 other orders are waiting for you. She doesn’t want to get help. “That would be quite a step away from what neon sign building gives me. I just want to create my designs while turning my head off.”
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