Mette Mygland: Exploring Memory, Identity and the Female Experience
A deeply personal artistic practice rooted in life, vulnerability, and human connection
Norwegian artist Mette Mygland creates work that explores the complexities of the human experience through painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, and installation. Her practice is characterized by emotional honesty, psychological depth, and an unflinching exploration of themes often considered difficult or taboo. Through her work, Mygland investigates memory, identity, the female body, and the experiences that shape us throughout life.
Art as a Language
For Mygland, artistic creation serves as a primary form of communication. While words have never felt like her strongest means of expression, visual art allows her to articulate emotions, experiences, and reflections that are difficult to convey otherwise.
Although she began her artistic career relatively late, starting her exploration at the age of 46, her work has since been featured in both solo and group exhibitions. Most recently, she was selected to participate in the opening exhibition of Norway’s National Museum, marking an important milestone in her artistic journey.
The Personal as Universal
Life experiences form the foundation of Mygland’s work. Encounters with people, personal memories, and significant life events continuously influence her creative process. A defining moment came when she lost her older brother in a car accident at the age of thirteen, an experience that profoundly shaped her perspective on life and continues to resonate throughout her artistic practice.
Many of her works focus on the female body as a site of memory, transformation, vulnerability, and strength. Themes such as birth, motherhood, pain, intimacy, and psychological experience are explored through expressive imagery that invites viewers into deeply personal yet universally recognizable emotional landscapes.
Our Approach
Mette Mygland’s contribution to PEELED centered on the body as both a physical and emotional archive. Through paintings and sculptural works, she explored themes of birth, identity, memory, and transformation, creating visual narratives that moved between vulnerability and resilience.
Her work formed an important part of the exhibition’s broader exploration of what is revealed when external layers are stripped away. Together with the other participating artists, she helped create an immersive environment where personal stories and shared human experiences intersected.
By approaching difficult subjects with honesty and sensitivity, Mygland’s work demonstrates how art can create space for reflection, empathy, and deeper understanding.
Artist Reflection
"Life and encounters with the people I meet are my inspirations."
— METTE MYGLAND
ARTIST
Mette Mygland
CLIENT
Collective Oslo
CATEGORY
Contemporary Art
DELIVERABLES
Painting
Sculpture
Installation Art
Visual Storytelling
Exhibition Work
Artistic Research
Mixed Media
Contemporary Art Practice
FEATURED IN
PEELED Exhibition
DOCUMENTATION
Photography by Tonje Gulbæk
PARTNERS
Adam og Eva
Oslo Kommune