Isa Melsheimer was born 1968 in Neuss, Germany. The artist lives and works in Berlin.

Melsheimer studied at Berlin University of the Arts from 1991 to 1997 and was a master student in the class of Georg Baselitz.

The artist was awarded numerous grants and residencies, among them: Fogo Island Arts Residency in 2017, the Marianne-Werefkin-Prize Berlin in 2015, the scholarship of Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome in 2013, an Artist in Residence of the Goethe Institute in Lisbon in 2012, the Art Prize Stadt Nordhorn in 2008, a residency at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles in 2007 and a scholarship of The Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas in 2005.

Known for her engagement with the history of architectural styles—especially the legacy of Modernism and 1950s-70s examples of concrete architecture—Isa Melsheimer’s works are expressions of her intense research as well as formal investigations. The artist acts as archaeologist of often forgotten or neglected buildings, recreating their distinctive shapes both from her study and from her vivid re-imagining of the forms and the spirit of the structures. The shift of scale inherent in the artist’s allusion to architectural structures often lets the works, made from poured concrete, appear as benches, stool-like objects, tiered steps or hollow containers that sometimes double as sites of constructed exotic vegetation. Her glazed ceramics find another kind of representation of architectural structures that depart in scale, material and color from the sources. Although their scale recalls the miniaturized and schematic appearance of preliminary architectural models, the material and colors add a fantastic, playful aspect. All her objects take a certain amount of free license, sometimes containing elements of fantastic recreation, but are always infused with a deep understanding and sympathy for their architectural sources.