Born in the Netherlands in 1960, Mella studied visual arts at Minerva Academy in Groningen (1978-1984). In 1984 she left the Netherlands and continued her studies at the Art Institute of Jakarta (1984) and at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta (1985-1986). She has been living and working in Indonesia for 40 years. In 1988, she co-founded Cemeti Art House, now called Cemeti Institute for Art & Society with Nindityo Adipurnomo, one of the first spaces for contemporary art in Indonesia. Moreover, in 1995, she co-founded the Indonesian Visual Art Archive in Yogyakarta (formerly Cemeti Art Foundation).

Mella Jaarsma has become known for her complex costume installations and her focus on forms of cultural and racial diversity embedded within clothing, the body and food. Mella's work has been shown widely in Indonesia and abroad, including at ‘Videobrasil’ - San Paolo - Brazil (2023); at the‘Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6’, Jogja National Museum (2021); at the MACAN Museum, Jakarta (2019); at ‘The Setouchi Triennale’, Ibuki Island, Japan (2019); at the Thailand Biennale - Krabi (2018); at the 20th Sydney Biennale (2016); ‘The Roving Eye’, Arter, Istanbul (2014); ‘Siasat’ – Jakarta Biennale; Museum of Ceramics and Fine Arts, Jakarta (2013); ‘Suspended Histories’, Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam (2013); ‘Singapore Biennale’, Singapore Art Museum (2011); ‘GSK Contemporary – Aware: Art Fashion Identity’, the Royal Academy of Arts, London(2010); ‘RE-Addressing Identities’, Katonah Museum, New York (2009); ‘Accidentally Fashion’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (2007); Yokohama Triennial (2005), and many others. Her work is part of the collections of the National Gallery – Jakarta, Tumurun Museum – Solo, Queensland Art Gallery- Museum of Modern Art - Brisbane, The National Gallery of Australia - Canberra, the Singapore Art Museum, and the National Gallery Singapore, amongst others.