Do you know her already? Have you seen her somewhere? The popularity of this Baba has exceeded my wildest expectations! I know that she has already been sighted in Australia, North America, South America and in many European countries…. There are those who decorate their homes with it, and there are those who use her to decorate their… bodies! I love it on t-shirts and wear it as a brooch! I also know someone who has it on his bathroom door….
Fishing Expedition
One day, on the ground floor of the cultural institution where I was working at the time, I saw an elderly and elegant woman. I remember she had a white beret on her head. I think it was crocheted and I remember it was unusual. She seemed lost. I asked her how I could help her. She said she had a brother who had had a stroke and that she would like to get him into an event or activity and thought she might find something here. I replied without thinking.
Please come to the collage workshop I am running tonight.
We said our goodbyes. In the evening, a woman came with her brother, Mr Jan, aged 82. They were not sure what a “collage workshop” meant, but they came. Mr Jan had difficulty speaking and holding scissors. I sat next to him and cut away at him. The workshop was about Praga-Północ, the district we were in, and among the material collected were old photographs of this part of Warsaw. I cut out a woman from one such photograph. There were people walking down the street (probably Targowa Street). I liked this woman, she had a kerchief on her head and a coat. It seemed to me that she was walking briskly, I mean I imagined. And suddenly I said to Mr John:
You know what, this woman is missing something.
In my office, saved on the computer, was… a fish. I immediately thought of her. While preparing the class, I was looking for nice old illustrations. I remember how happy I was when I found it, you could say: caught it!
I will leave you for a few minutes and go to print something.
I ran to the second floor, where my desk was, where I spent hours every day. I ran. I started up the computer. It was beautiful and yellow. I thought it would look very good with a black and white woman, that it was just what Baba needed. I quickly printed out the treasure and then ran back to the ground floor to the group and Mr Jan. Mr Jan started to feel better and better, telling jokes to the attendees and also finally took the scissors in his hands. And I cut out a fish. Without thinking much I gave it to Baba under her arm. Bingo! It looked great!
And here’s the photo I cut the woman out of. She’s already holding something, sometimes I think it’s a tube with my linocut ‘Baba with a fish’….
And then I wanted to do linocuts. And I don’t know why, but I spontaneously decided to do “Baba with the fish”, which only existed in collage form. I reproduced it. The black and white version was wonderful. Without thinking much, I uploaded it to the Internet. And it started!
Love Letters
Since then, Baba has received many love letters. Here are a few of them:
„It’s a really beautiful piece. Something feels powerful about the woman with the big fish. Especially because the fish has an almost rough/aggressive face and she appears like someone’s little old grandma who’s tamed the beast. It’s also just different and original! A beautiful work of art!” – Gabe C. from USA:
„The print immediately struck me. I love linocuts and was frozen when I saw this. The weight of this fish felt enourmous in this babas arms, but not heavy. It felt familiar and right, like it was just a part of her morning walk, carrying the fish and everything that came with it.” – Jake Meltzer
„As for why Baba moves me: I think it’s for a few reasons. Fish move somewhat aimlessly in the ocean but they’re always moving and going somewhere. Baba is moving too, along with her fish, and we don’t really know where she is going but she seems very determined to get there. I view myself similarly. I feel as though I move rather aimlessly through my life but I do so in a determined way, if that makes sense. Also, I am originally from Latvia and smoked fish is very popular and I love it very much too, so Baba reminds me of myself leaving a market with a large amount of smoked fish (I wish I could have a smoked fish as big as Baba’s fish).” – Michele Bilko
„I love her. I feel this Baba is me taking my kid home. When I saw Baba with fish I was pregnant. This beautiful work just pumped into my life thanks to the crazy algorithm of the Internet. In that moment I called the baby in my belly „Fish”. So when I saw this woman (Baba), I felt it was me , imagining taking my teenager and drunk kid back home. I was the lady with fish. My boy’s name is Gaspar Pez (fish in Spanish). Thank You Marta for this lovely piece.” – Melisa from Chile
„Currently I live in Boa Vista, Roraima (Brazil), studying anthropology, but I am from Manaus, Amazonas (Brazil). The art reminded me of our custom of frequent fish feeding. We have one of the largest rivers in the world and this reality is very much in line with our culture.” – Efe Ferreira
„In that specific picture of yours I found some things that are deeply private and valuable to me. I want to thank you for that picture that exists at all and somehow became a part of me. Good luck and I hope you continue to create such good and valuable works of art. I like the eastern european aesthetics. I am a film director and i found it very simbolical and it reminds me of my childhood. I really like that the fish is at the same time a burden but also a pleasure for the grandmother who carries it. It’s an excellent choice because the fish is so much bigger than her, it somehow makes the whole thing even stronger and the impression stronger.” – Miljković Vidan
Alesia Pesenka from Belarus sent me this photo and wrote:
„Lukashenko imposed sanctions against Polish apples for 4 months. So here I show off with it.”
Masha Makarova got a tattoo and wrote about her motivations:
“The baba is very much like my grandmother, I feel warmth when I look at her. Besides, the fish (specifically the wobble) has become a symbol of opposition to the war against Ukraine in Russia, where I come from, so this big fish is also something I associate with these days. And I still have a favourite photo that somehow connects me to your work – a woman carrying a banner that says Happiness.”
„I’m from Lithuania and I particularly like Baba because it just represents lithuanian childhood:) She reminds me of old cartoons that I watched when I was a kid or when my grandma read me lithuanian fairy tales and it had some cold and dark atmosphere (I can’t put the nostalgia i feel in words, but I saw that you are from Poland and I think the cultures aren’t that much different so maybe you understand what I’m saying). Also the grandmas in Lithuania look similar or have the same vibe as in your drawing. But the drawing also has a new twist, like old and new generations combined and made one picture together.” – Gabija from Lithuania
„I guess I associate Baba with my grandmother but also childhood spent in the countryside. I remember us buying smoked fish from a local fisherman and being so excited to eat it and look at all the bones while my grandma cleaned it for me. This small moment has for whatever reason stuck with and still makes me feel like a little kid for whom such an ordinary thing as a fish could feel like something marvelous.” – Epp from Estonia
„Since I saw Baba z rybą for the first time she was in my head, so one day I went to the tattoo studio and now it’s been a year since I have her on my body and I love her so much. I just wanted to say thank you for your art. For me she is like the icon of confidence, She is carrying a very big fish, doing her business and doesn’t care about what’s going on around her, she has her own plan, road.” – Alya from Kazakhstan
„When my father was a boy in the 1930s, his Ukrainian/Polish mother would send him to the pond with his bow and arrow to get a big carp! She made excellent gefilte fish, and your Baba print captures her spirit perfectly! I have had a difficult year, but my Baba’s spirit has gotten me through. Can’t wait to frame my print!” – Dana from Arizony, USA
„When I first saw Baba with a fish something drew me to the image. How effortlessly , casually she was carrying this fish under her arm. She made me laugh and see the bright side of things. I’d just become a single mother and Baba reminded me that we can keep moving on with life even with a lot to carry.” – Sophie from Australia
Cases of theft
Unfortunately, it often happens that I end up on sites that sell products with Baba with fish without my knowledge or consent. Sometimes I am shown adverts (e.g. for T-shirts with Baba on them) – which I find particularly awful! Most often it is you who let me know about such cases, thanks to you I know, for example, about one restaurant in Greece that used my illustration for more than three years or that someone on Etsy was selling it as a Japanese Baba.
Thank you for your support, for preferring to buy a T-shirt in my little shop, for giving me encouragement by buying prints or original artwork. If you know of any places, small galleries or shops (maybe fish fryers or fishing shops :-)) that would like to have an illustration of Baba with a fish in their offer – let me know. I am looking for such places.
Intellectual property
As of May 2024, Baba is registered as a trademark by the European Union Intellectual Property Office – EUIPO. I hope this will help me to assert my rights. Thank you to those of you who let me know about instances of theft of my illustration.
Baba as Baba
Baba in restaurant
Baba has also arrived in Austria, Neufelden, at the restaurant “Fernruf 7”! “Leute, Feuer, Musik” is the motto of this place. May the baba be well there and the food be good!
Baba as a tattoo
As Baba wanders about the globe, I get to hear stories, memories and sightings from people all over the world. For example one man from Brazil, who tattooed an image of the Baba on his calf, told me that the she reminds of his own grandmother, who used to fish in the Amazon Rainforest. Then there was Tali from Israel, who tattooed an image of the Baba on her arm,. She revealed to me that it reminded her of her grandmother and when she used to go to the market where she always bought the biggest fish!
Do you want to get Baba as a tattoo? Do the right thing and respect my creative work. Simply contact me to ask for my permission and acquire the right to use it.
T-SHIRTS
In my shop you will find T-shirts made of beautiful, pleasant-to-touch cotton, sewn in Poland, Baba has been screen-printed onto them. It comes in black, blue or pink. The oversize cut will fit everyone and everyone looks good in it.
BABA as a pin
Baba and fashion
Just wait for more!
Baba and Street Art
You take it with you, you have it at your place
Dniem Baby z Rybą- piątek.
Jak Baba z Rybą, to Chłop z Frytkami. 🙂
Ryba ma ości, Baba wypieki.