My name is Saskia Mees.

I was born in The Hague,The Netherlands. My father was a Dutch medical doctor, my mother was a professional violinist from a Berlin Jewish family. Both parents created an environment where music and art were part of my daily life.
My early schooling was at the Waldorf School, in The Hague.
In 1974 I began a theater training at the Amsterdam Theatre school, completing my studies at the Folkwang Schule in Essen Germany, where after two years I graduated Cum Laude and was awarded the Folkwang Prize.
In the years since I worked as an actress, a drama teacher and musical theatre director. After I visited a post academic training Dasarts in Amsterdam under the wonderfull supervision of Ritsaert ten Cate, I established Alba Theatre House as a training venue for talented youth and was Alba’s artistic director for thirteen years. I tried to create a personal and inspiring working space with music theatre as the red thread.

In 2011 my mother died, leaving behind hundreds of letters, poems and diaries. My mother, Eva Christeller was my inspiration to incorporate these papers into my art work. Deciding to create art from the paper I inherited by destroying it and then transforming it into a form which was no longer literal but rather a memento of a life cherished.
It illustrates the connection between life and death, between saying goodbye and meeting someone again in another way. And so a methamorphoses of old material takes place.

In 2015, I exhibited the work in The Hague and with the profit from the sales, I travelled to Japan to be an artist in residence, learning the washi-technique, at a rural paper factory.

I also create works – for others – using papers that have an emotional value to them and transform their material into art. If you don’t know what to do with precious letters etc. like you don’t want to burn them, nor throw them away, nor burrie them, nor keep them as they are: you can call or email me. We can talk about ideas and opportunaties.

I now live in the North of Amsterdam.

I exhibited twice at the OAN ( Open Ateliers Noord) in Amsterdam( 2018 & 2019) and will exhibit in de spring of 2022.