At first glance, Ruth Fisher’s work delights: the colorful paintings, the whimsical hand-lettered, hand-pressed books that are marvels of invention in their design, their layout, their binding. The intricacies of craft, the labor of multiple pressings for color, the hand-stitched bindings, the resourceful gathering of materials—wallpaper, Styrofoam meat trays, grocery bags—all show the care and dedication of the artist. But these books tell stories, too: warm and witty, feisty and loving, gentle and provoking. Her first, Auntie Em’s Elephant, chronicles how Em, moving into an apartment that does not allow pets, covers her young elephant in cloth so that it might look stuffed. As it grows, so does the ruse, becoming more obvious to everyone. Secrets, those things we hide, the “elephant in the room,” are better revealed. Similar clever and wise narratives, similar artistic depictions of places and characters, occupy the pages of Ruth Fisher’s substantial work. We are delighted to introduce her to those who have not seen her work before. We are happy to welcome the work of this Washburn University graduate to the collections of the Mulvane Art Museum and the Thomas Fox Averill Kansas Studies Collection.
