Mella Jaarsma | The Size of Rice 3

Courtesy of the artist and A+ Works of Art

Mella Jaarsma is known for her complex costume installations and her focus on forms of cultural and racial diversity embedded within clothing, the body and food. In 1988, she co-founded Cemeti Art House, now called Cemeti Institute for Art & Society with Nindityo Adipurnomo. At the time it was one of the first spaces for contemporary art in Indonesia, and to this day remains an important platform for young artists and art workers. Jaarsma’s works have been presented at major international platforms and institutions such as Museum MACAN, Setouchi Triennale (2019), Thailand Biennale (2018), 20th Sydney Biennale (2016), Museum Van Loon, Royal Academy of Arts in London, Katonah Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. Her work is in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, National Gallery of Australia and Singapore Art Museum, amongst others.

In The Size of Rice, Jaarsma is interested in measurements that are taken without using the metric system. The series takes inspiration from a grain of rice as a traditional measurement unit within the shared agrarian heritage in Southeast Asia. She also references principles of “Asta Kosala Kosali,” a Balinese Hindu way of structuring land and architecture based on the anatomy of the body.