The George Lindemann Journal by George Lindemann

It seems fitting that the first American museum exhibition of Tracey Emin is a display of neon. After all, she made her name in England with brassy artworks such as a tent listing all the names of her bedmates, platonic or romantic.

But the British artist points out that most of the works in her Miami show, which opens Wednesday, confront more spiritual topics that the casual viewer often overlooks.

"Because sex sells, they actually filter out the ones about love or God," says the 50-year-old Ms. Emin of casual onlookers who linger longer at the lurid works than at those that discuss uncomfortable topics such as depression. One such neon sign spells out "Its not me Thats Crying Its my Soul." The fourth neon she ever made, Ms. Emin says it reflects the pervasive, inherent depression she has felt her entire life.

The exhibition, running through March 9 at Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art and called "Angel without You," is also Ms. Emin's first show of neons. It's the result of a nearly two-decade collaboration with neon-sign maker Kerry Ryan.

Ms. Emin became a household name in her home country as the brashest female member of the Young British Artists. She pulled antics like showing up drunk for TV interviews and openly discussing her sexual exploits. Around the same time, Ms. Emin turned to a childhood fascination with neon. "People who grow up in the woods understand trees. I grew up with neons," says Ms. Emin, who was reared by a Turkish-Cypriot father and British mother in the coastal English town of Margate. Its "Golden Mile" is a seaside stretch bathed in the neon lights of fun fairs and gambling arcades.

She came to Mr. Ryan's shop in 1995 and asked him to make a pink neon entrance sign for "The Tracey Emin Museum." "She was so boisterous and bouncy. We thought she was a bit nuts," says Mr. Ryan of his colleagues' reaction when the feisty 32-year-old asked not to pay the deposit on her $650 sign.

But Mr. Ryan soon realized that behind the quirks was a dedicated artist. ("I spent a lot of my time when I was younger mucking around, not realizing the seriousness of the vocation," says Ms. Emin.) The two struck up a lasting friendship as Mr. Ryan turned her sentences and sketches into handblown neon glass signs that replicate Ms. Emin's sweeping, spindly cursive. That first sign, along with over 60 other neon artworks—mostly phrases culled from her writings and thoughts during relationships gone awry—shows up in "Angel without You."

Many of the neons Ms. Emin is famous for and that are present in the Miami show are highly sexually explicit, either pictures or phrases, and reflect her early struggle with her sexuality after being raped as a young teenager.

"If I"d have had a choice of not being born, I wouldn't have been born," says Ms. Emin, who believes her existence is an accidental result of the birth of her twin brother, Paul. "I think I got tangled up in his soul and pulled down," she says.

Ms. Emin' is quite open about her decision to not marry and eschew children for a high-powered career. Though she does not regret her choice, she is angry that she "felt used" by some men who viewed her as practice for future relationships, she says, a feeling reflected in the 2011 sign "I said Dont Practise ON ME."

The odd capital letters in the sign are cosmetic touches; certain letters such as "i" and "s" look better capitalized, Ms. Emin says. She perfected her process early on through trial and error, on the paper templates she gives Mr. Ryan to read before each neon is created.

Ms. Emin says that while many of her neons may come across to critics as "crass and corny," these qualities also make them honest. "Most people don't have profound philosophical thoughts all the time, they think like pop songs," she says. "That's how they get on in the world."

Write to Mary M. Lane at mary.lane@wsj.com

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You Loved Me Like a Distant Star (2012)
Ms. Emin's neons are all hand-blown by London-based sign-maker Kerry Ryan, who then fills the glass with a mixture of neon, argon and mercury using a century-old technique. Lehmann Maupin

The Scream (2002)
Many of the show's works, including "The Scream" from 2002, reflect Ms. Emin's struggle with feelings of depression. Ms. Emin believes her soul was "tangled up" in that of her twin brother, Paul. Tracey Emin/White Cube

The Tracey Emin Museum (1995)
Kerry Ryan made Ms. Emin's first neon, shown here, for her studio in 1995. The two are now close friends, but upon meeting the "boisterous" artist, Mr. Ryan says he initially thought she was "a bit off her rocker." Tracey Emin/White Cube

I Can Feel your Smile (2005)
The seemingly random capitalized letters in Tracey Emin's signs are cosmetic touches. Some letters such as "i" or "s" look better capitalized than others, she explains. Lehmann Maupin

Meet Me in Heaven I Will Wait for You (2004)
Ms. Emin became famous for brassy, sexually explicit work, which are themes in some of her neons in the show. But the vast majority of her works deal with topics like love, God and depression. Lehmann Maupin/Whitecube

Only God Knows I'm Good (2009)
The green used in this sign is similar to that used in the neon signs of apothecaries in Europe, because it also glows during the day, says Ms. Emin. Lehmann Maupin/Whitecube

You Forgot to Kiss My Soul (2001)
Ms. Emin has never held a show of neons before, partly because the process of putting it together is so expensive that most museums would require that the show then travel to recoup costs, says Ms. Emin, who refuses to do traveling shows. Lehmann Maupin/Whitecube

Sorry Flowers Die (1999)
MOCA Miami was the first American museum to purchase one of Ms. Emin's works, a film called "Why I Never Became a Dancer," whichi will be screened at the exhibition. Lehmann Maupin/Whitecube