Mattie Sterling, an activist figurative painter based in Savannah, Georgia, holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She utilizes her lifestyle and art to challenge heterosexist tyranny and hierarchical traditions, advocating for positive social change within women's civil and identity politics, empowerment, and sexuality.

The Vice Chair of the Young Women’s Caucus for Art, Sterling consistently explores the female figure and the emancipation of women's sexuality by engaging in exhibitions, publications, writing on Feminist Art, and in discussions on sexuality and sex positivity. Her recent body of work leverages the sexual capital of her models to address questionable beliefs and societal dogma surrounding women's sexuality.

“A key part of my feminist practice explores equality in sex through satirical oil paintings depicting women in legal pornography of my own design. Each composition is informed by interviews with the models, incorporating their experiences into the scenery and costumes. Despite its stigma, I engage with pornography for its overt eroticism, humor, and outdated perceptions of women's sexuality. This approach empowers the women I portray, giving them agency over their bodies while fostering a community that challenges and reclaims narratives around female sexuality.

The distinction between pornography and erotica remains debated, but historically, pornography was created for the male gaze. In Western societies, it has evolved into a form that also caters to women, serving as a platform for exploring female sexuality.

This cause and effect in greater context have me conscious that my work can be interpreted with my contemporaries in the field of figuration, as a derivative of feminism’s historical significance in painting. However, while figuration, the female nude, and the human body are recurring concepts within painting’s historical significance I need to point out that sexuality and a person’s sexual identity do not exist in a vacuum.”