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Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.
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Artwork copyright dick ibach. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.
Three Sisters, 1990
dick ibach
American (born 1940, died 2021)
Location: East Omak Elementary, Omak
About the Artwork
Three Sisters by dick ibach features three stylized figures in colorful dresses, holding children in their arms. In the background, simple shapes with colorful patterns make up an abstracted landscape. This piece is part of the artist's body of images inspired by his memories. ibach notes, "I find it really healthy to be able to laugh at myself – to poke fun at events that continue to live through some magic, in my memory. These memories with all their varying emotional content, which demand to be celebrated, are good stuff for the activity of art. I hope some of these celebrated events will strike a chord from your past life."
This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Omak School District.
About the Artist
Spokane, Eastern Washington-based artist dick ibach (1940-2021) created paintings that combine figurative imagery with expressive forms, symbolism, and intense patterning. His art is humorous and often based on his memories: "It is my intention to speak of the contradictions of the human condition: to address both the nobility and stupidity of it all." He believes that the viewer must develop a “visual literacy” and not expect explanations, because “Artists are visual, and their imagery is visual… Words are for poets.”ibach was born and grew up in Yakima, Central Washington. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, in 1972. He taught art at Spokane Falls Community College for over fifteen years. He was also a Jesuit brother for ten years during the 1960s and he worked many odd jobs such as a hospital orderly, sod buster, cattle brander, grave digger, and cabinet maker. These experiences shaped his point of view as an artist.
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