"THE PURPOSE OF A MYTHIC NARRATIVE IS TO MAKE THE WORLD INTELLIGIBLE, USING MAGICAL MEANS TO RESOLVE THE CONTRADICTIONS OF LIFE. “  ​ - ANTHROPOLOGIST CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS

Mette Sterre is a London/Rotterdam based visual artist/designer mainly focussing on sculptural costume based performances and lens based media. Her work deals with the grotesque; the world of topsy-turvy, the uncanny and the paradox.

SHE IS A RECENT MA GRADUATE FROM LONDON CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS AND HER WORK HAS FEATURED IN THE CATLIN GUIDE, A PRESTIGIOUS PUBLICATION OF UK’S BEST GRADUATING GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE ART STUDENTS. SHE WAS ALSO ONE OF THE TWELTH  GRADUATE ARTISTS TO BE SELECTED TO REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON AT THE ART15 IN LONDON. 
​HER WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN VOGUE, DAZED AND CONFUSED, WALLPAPER MAGAZINE AND THE VOLKSKRANT MAGAZINE, AMONGST OTHERS. METTE STERRE WORKS INTERNATIONALLY AND HAS EXHIBITED AND PERFORMED IN THE WATERMILL CENTER IN NEW YORK, THE PLATFORM THEATRE IN LONDON, THE TRIENALE MUSEUM IN MILAN, SCOPE ART FAIR IN BASEL, AND ART ROTTERDAM, AMONGST OTHER PLACES.

She's inspired by fibonacci numbers in nature, sociology and horror movies. Her current research is that of the meta-body, proposing a new physique and body language for the non-human body. Like a Doktor Frankenstein she sews body parts together, creating new forms of living beings. These are constructed through the sculptural costumes that function as body masks, blurring the boundaries of the animate and inanimate, gender, nature and artifice, object and subject.

She ANTHROPOMORPHIsES everyday objects, by USING THEM AS THE MAIN SOURCE FOR HER SCULPTURAL costumes.
Materials she WORKS WITH ARE AS VARIED AS ball pit balls, rubber bands, GIFT BOWS AND ceramicS. THE CREATURES ARE MADE THROUGH AN ELABORATE PERIOD OF INTENS LABOUR; A  COSTUME TAKES 3-6 MONTHS TO BUILD. THE PROCESS IS VERY REPETITIVE.

AN IMPORTANT element in HER PRACTICE IS ENDURANCE. IT'S IN THE PRODUCTION AS WELL AS WEARING THE COSTUMES. YOU COULD CALL THEM body masks, AS THEY COVER THE ENTIRE BODY AND FACE, LEAVING NO TRACE OF WHO IS UNDERNEATH, ENHANCING THEIR TRANSFORMATIVE POWER. THE COSTUMES ARE VERY RESTRICTIVE IN MANY WAYS; HOT, HEAVY, RESTRICTIVE EYE-SIGHT, DETERMINING THE MOVEMENT OF THE PERFORMERS.  
She believes there's a strong connection with the manual labour and the experience of the transformative power of the costumes to perform another worldly being. 

The costumes are always the starting point OF THE performance. THE PERFORMANCE ITSELF IS DEVELOPED THROUGH A PROCES OF TRAIL AND ERROR; MOVEMENT IS DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PERFORMERS AND MUSIC IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART, FUNCTIONING AS A SONIC SET.