Artwork copyright Anita Fisk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Babu, 1990

Anita Fisk
American (born 1948, died 2014)

Location: Dayton Elementary School, Dayton

About the Artwork

Babu is a beaded collage by artist Anita Fisk. She created this and other artworks while teaching at Kenyatta University near Nairobi, Kenya, in Africa. The title means grandfather in Swahili, a term of high esteem. Beaded leather skirts worn by Kenyan tribeswomen inspired her composition and choice of materials. She notes that this piece is about "gathering wisdom and dignity." She describes it as "a kind of bush woman's cookbook of images that attempt to tap the roots of experience…"

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Dayton School District.

About the Artist

Anita Fisk (1948-2014) was an artist and teacher. She was born in Baltimore and lived in New Orleans, Miami, and Seattle. She earned a Bachelor of FIne Arts degree from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia and a Master of Fine Arts degree (1976) in sculpture from Lone Mountain College (now the University of San Francisco) in California. Fisk served as a professor and art instructor at many institutions including Western Washington University in Bellingham and Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.