Isa van Lier

“My work has something of the lightness of a dream world,” says artist Isa van Lier (Amsterdam, 1996). Van Lier creates joyful, seemingly ‘light-hearted’ and almost ‘childlike’ ceramic sculptures, as well as paintings and drawings of dreamlike worlds, temples and creatures. Her art invites viewers to step into the meditative, dreamy inner world of the artist – offering a pleasant escape.

Isa van Lier, Len Tempel, 2022, photo Levien Lockefeer

Van Lier graduated as recently as 2020 from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Within just two years, she made a name for herself in the art world. For the Frisian outdoor exhibition Paradys, curated by Hans den Hartog Jager in Oranjewoud (2022), she created a five-metre-high Len Temple in the shape of an egg, filled with ceramic works. Visitors could temporarily retreat into this imagined ‘paradise’ to relax, with many emerging either cheerful or deeply moved. She also created a meandering path of brightly coloured stones at the Kunsthal (2022), and her sculptures populated the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam. In 2024, she independently curated the group exhibition Pulling Strings with fellow artist friends at Arti et Amicitae.

Isa van Lier, portret, Len tempel, 2022, photo Levien Lockefeer

Every year, the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam offers two young artists the opportunity to create new work for one of its attic spaces. Van Lier will develop entirely new pieces that align with her vision of building ‘temples’ in various locations around the world – places where visitors can find temporary peace and tranquillity. This new work builds on her acclaimed Len Temple, which she created for Paradys in Oranjewoud.

Header: Isa van Lier, We Trust You, 2022, photo by Tommy Smits