About Sissel & Mette
Mette and Sissel work together in their studio in Santa Barbara, CA – half a world away from the farm in Norway on which they were born and raised. They grew up surrounded by handmade objects passed down through generations.
Sissel became a teacher in Norway. Soon after, she and her husband moved to Africa. Together, they spent 20 years there, making homes in Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa and Tanzania. Sissel spent these years working in various art media (batik, painting), continually inspired by the ancient forms and rhythms of the people and nature around her.
Mette came to America at the age of 20 to study at Wellesley College. She went on to complete degrees in Japanese Area Studies and librarianship from UCLA. During the late 60’s, she and her husband spent three years working and studying in Japan, completely in love with the traditions of Japanese ceramics and folk art. Here she first began “playing” with clay.
The two sisters, now together again in America after a life of travels and adventures in many cultures, have settled down to making art together. Their work is bound to reflect multiple influences, but is grounded in their great appreciation for all folk art, in a strong common esthetic sense, and, most of all, in their great joy in the creative process.
|
