Abgegolten

Isa Melsheimer is a Berlin-based artist. Interiors play a major role in both gouaches and architectural models. The models, constructed from cheap materials, are quite sober. In her work, Melsheimer addresses important global issues as well as personal memories that are tinged with melancholy and nostalgia.

Abgegolten is neither a model interior like the ones in furniture stores nor a doll’s house without dolls. The different scales, materials and objects seem to be part of a difficult to grasp plot, as if we look at a film set model . The fussily printed cushions clash with the plain, prefabricated wooden boards, while a dark rustic wooden shed stands across a five-legged stool. Abgegolten literally means ‘settled’. The native Americans, represented by the stereotypical feathered Indians on the cushions, clearly contrast with the ‘settlers’, represented by the three-store dwelling. Without falling into easy romanticism, Melsheimer constructs an interior design that reflects on what happened after the discovery of the New World: natives were displaced and murdered the settlers, who were themselves a group of displaced people.