Have you ever come across an artist that just makes you really happy? Someone who fills you with that almost childish excitement one rarely comes across in this day and age? For us, one of these artists is Mettoz, who has been lighting up enter.art since she first came to the Launchpad back in November 2021. Delving into her gallery is like opening the doors to a fantasy world, where colours, genders and people blend together in a mesmerizing melting pot of fantastic colours. 

Amongst her collections you can find everything from Dream Worlds to Cyber Witches, the mysterious Blob and let’s not forget Hairy Harry - the genderless creature who has found their way to many collectors’ hearts in the enterverse. The representation of diversity and love for the unique is clear in Mettoz’ NFTs, but no matter the topic, it is always sprinkled with brightness and humour. This shines through particularly in Hairy Harry the Comic - where societal norms are picked apart and put in the limelight in all its ridiculousness. 

What defines an artist's success? How has the journey to NFTs been? These are some of the questions we’re exploring with Mettoz in this artist highlight. We’ve been immensely looking forward to giving you a glimpse into Mettoz’ world for a while, so let’s get right to it!

Lady in pink - Pink Society collection

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I grew up in the small and cozy city of Bern until I recently discovered Zurich. Here I am now studying Art Education at the Zurich University of the Arts. 

Ever since I was little, I have loved to draw humans. Later I became extremely interested in Japanese comics and the way characters are drawn. Because of this interest, I then created a comic myself for my graduation work in high school. It was about beauty standards and lookism in our society. With my art, I process many things that concern me or just make me think. 

Cyber Love - Pink Society-collection

What mediums do you use?

I've always loved trying different mediums. I like filming and making videos and short films but also photography. I draw or paint traditionally a lot and I love trying out new things.

When I bought my first iPad some years ago I started drawing digitally. I finally began to upload my digital art on Instagram where I first came into contact with the digital art community.

Social criticism is a big part of your work - what causes are you the most passionate about?

Beauty standards and the way they are represented on social media is something I really want to talk about with my art since this is something I had to struggle with for a long time myself.

Hairy Harry the comic #3 - Hairy Harry the comic-collection

About Hairy Harry & Pink Society

Hairy Harry is a character I created that cannot be directly assigned a gender. With that l want to address the diversity and the merging of gender roles in our society. This character inspired me to create a comic that is now part of the Hairy Harry the Comic collection. I love the idea of comic NFTs and so I had the idea that the first owner of these comic NFTs can decide how the comic and thus the story of Hairy Harry continues.

With the Pink Society collection, I also express social criticism. Pink is my favorite color and that's why I use it in a lot of my illustrations. The color pink is often associated with femininity and cuteness, which I try to resolve. Pink and blue are just colors like any other and shouldn’t define one’s gender.

Hairy Harry the mermaid #5 - Hairy Harry the mermaid-collection

What’s your biggest barrier as an artist? How do you overcome it?

Sometimes I’m just not in the right mood to create. I learned to not get overwhelmed by the pressure to create or post something every day and just wait for the time I am really motivated again. I need to take little breaks sometimes so my art will be authentic and honest.

How do you define success as an artist?

Success for me as an artist means that there are people that like my work, feel something and can connect with it when they see it. I’m most happy about all the nice comments on my social media platforms. That keeps me going :)

Ghost - Cyber Witches-collection

How did you get into the NFT space, and what has your experience been so far?

One day I was getting a hand-poked tattoo of a tooth. My tattoo artist then talked about my art on Instagram and how he has a friend who sells his digital art as NFTs. I heard from NFTs before but on that day I got more curious about it and started to google a lot. I came across many different sites and countless NFT artists. I was immediately fascinated by the NFT community and also wanted to be part of it. And so far I love it! It gave me the opportunity to meet so many new people and artists from all over the world. I love to be able to make others happy with my illustrations and therefore to get into a conversation or an exchange with all these unique people.

Make sure to check out Mettoz and follow her artistic journey. If you're ever having a bad day, Mettoz' works are bound to pick you up, while maybe giving you a little something to think about:

• https://www.enter.art/artist/mettoz
• https://salomettoz.wixsite.com/myart
  
• https://www.instagram.com/metto.z/
  
• https://twitter.com/metto_z
  
  

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