Sanné Mestrom

About the work

Sanné Mestrom’s “The Playful Exchange” embodies connection and belonging through a large, semi-abstracted figure reaching outward. These curve-linear forms invite interaction: visitors can sit on them, slide down them, climb across them, or simply enjoy their visual presence. Designed to appeal to children and adults of all cultures and experiences, these sculptures reimagine traditional forms, making them more approachable, familiar and yet curious at the same time.

These intergenerational, playable works activate public spaces intellectually, imaginatively, and physically. “The Playful Exchange” engages passersby on dual levels: as contemporary, site-responsive conceptual artworks and as interactive, intergenerational sites of play. Through physical interaction, the artwork becomes a living symbol of Preston’s vibrant, multicultural identity, fostering connection across diverse communities.

image credits to the artist

About the artist

Sanné Mestrom was born in the Netherlands in 1979, emigrating to New Zealand in 1983 and relocating to Australia in 1998. After spending 20 years in Melbourne, she now lives and works in the Blue Mountains NSW.

Mestrom has a PhD in Fine Art from RMIT University 2008 and a Masters in Public Art from RMIT 2011. She was a studio artist at Gertrude Contemporary in 2010-11, and has held residencies in Mexico City, 2010, and Seoul, Korea, 2001.

 

Selected recent major exhibitions include ‘Solar Cry’ (Sullivan + Strumpf 2024), From Will to Form, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2018 (curated by Emily Cormack), Corrections, Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney, 2017; Loose Variables, Westbourne Grammar, 2017; The Bathers, (curated by Alexie Glass), Art Basel Hong Kong, 2017; Sphinx in Repose, (curated by Chief Curator MCA Rachel Kent), Carriageworks; Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday, (curated by Natasha Bullock), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Melbourne Public Art Biennial Lab, (curated by Natalie King 2016); Weeping Women, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2014 (Ian Potter Major Sculpture Commission for New Public Art through Monash University Museum of Art); Never Never Land, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 2014; Future Primitive, (curated by Linda Michael), Heide Museum of Modern Art, 2014; ‘NEW13’ curated by Charlotte Day at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; Pretty Air and Useful Things, curated by Rosemary Forde, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2012.; OCTOPUS 11: The Matter of Air, Gertrude Contemporary, 2011; Social Sculpture, curated by Charlotte Day, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, 2011.

Represented by

Sullivan + Strumpf