Santiago Celio

I'm Santiago Celio Cioli, known as Santo Cielo... a Berlin-based needle painting artist originally from Uruguay. I grew up surrounded by fabrics and thread in my mother's haberdashery in Colonia Suiza, which later led me to study Industrial Design in Textiles in Montevideo. My connection to embroidery deepened through my graduation thesis, Sabremos Bordar, where I learned directly from women of different generations and found an artistic voice rooted in intuition, emotion and improvisation.

I founded Santo Cielo in 2017 and moved to Berlin in 2018, where I've spent the years since developing a signature needle painting style focused on portraits... turning personal memories into tactile, lasting artworks. My work has been featured in publications and programs across Europe, Australia and Latin America, including My Modern Met, DW Español, We Are Makers, The Berliner and Textile Fibre Forum.

Alongside my studio practice, I bring embroidery into brand and company spaces. I've led in-store activations and workshops for names like Hermès, Dries Van Noten, Clé de Peau Beauté and Penhaligon's, as well as team building sessions for corporate groups. What I offer companies is simple but rare... a few hours of full presence, screen-free and hands-on, where colleagues or guests slow down, work with their hands and leave with something they made themselves. No experience is ever needed... every session is designed to be genuinely welcoming, from onboarding days to client events to celebrations.