Macyn Metten
Instagram: @metmac.art
Venmo: @macyn
Website: https://mmmacyn.wixsite.com/portfolio
Bio: Macyn Metten is a fine artist based in Sacramento and the Bay Area engaged primarily in graphite drawing and oil paint. Much of her work explores existential themes of the discomforts of the human experience, entangling both surrealism and realism. Her artwork aims to connect with viewers by offering a window into the connection that is shared among us through a diverse range of creative work. Her most recent work has shifted focus to identifying with femininity and monstrosity.
In 2023, she was awarded the Kingsley Merit Award grant from the Kingsley Art Club to financially support her creative projects and was exhibited in the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. She has also been exhibited in galleries such as the Axis Gallery in Sacramento, Pence Gallery in Davis, and most recently the ACCI Gallery in Berkeley. She has recently been awarded the LIFT grant from UC Berkeley Arts Research Center to financially support her senior thesis project. She is currently studying at the University of California at Berkeley to receive her Bachelors in Art Practice.
Statement: My artwork serves as an introspective journey into the depths of the human experience, unraveling the intricate phenomenon of my existence. Rooted in both surrealism and realism, my oil paintings and graphite drawings draw inspiration from the Old Masters, infused with a contemporary and eerie perspective to capture the idea of the human condition. I explore existentialism through inspiration by artists like Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon to continue this representation of the uncomfortable experience of being alive. In my own practice, this manifests through layered graphite drawings and oil paintings that hover between figuration and abstraction.
I often include traces of revision, both visible and unnatural limbs. These gestures show my broader interest in how art can reflect the fragility of the body and the contradictions of embodiment. My work also often depicts imagery of fragmented figures or multiple selves, directly engaging with the concept of identity. They reflect a personal navigation, a self genesis, and self-discovery of transformation, touching upon my experience with derealization as a metaphor for questioning perceived realities and defining one’s place.
At its very core, my practice is an inquiry into what exists in this gap between seeing and understanding. My goal is for my work to invite quiet attention and make visible what defines being human.
