About the Artist
I'm Yezibaba, a german artist who works at her own studio in Bonn. I draw inspiration from all things dark fantasy, mental health and nature. I work both digitally and in aquarelle watercolor.
In 2021 I got my Bachelor's degree in history and am currently working on a Master's specialized in the history of the Rhineland, Germany in the early modern age. A lot of my artistic inspirations come from my studies, especially from medical history and the every day life of regular people in the early modern period.
Since 2022 I present and sell my products at conventions around Germany and online.
Etymology
“Ježibaba”(czech.: Granny Witch)
Etymology: Baba means an elderly woman or grandmother, Yaga is uncertain, but may likely come the words: “jeza” meaning: horror, shudder or chill, “jezinka” for an evil wood nymph or dryad, “jeze” meaning: witch, “jedza” another word meaning: witch, fury or evil woman and lastly, “jeza” meaning: anger or disease and illness.
How I found my Artist Alias
I once saw Rusalka by Antonin Dvorak -an opera- with my grandmother. The songs were in czech language and we could read the translation on a screen. It is a version of the little mermaid story where a Rusalka, a mermaid/nymph creature from czech folklore falls deeply in love with a human prince, asks a witch to magically grant her humand legs and looses her voice in return.
Her desperate voice calling for “Jezibaba!” to transform her, give her a potion, with her age-old wisdom turn her from a mere creature into a human, again and again. In my head I spelled it with a Y - I don’t speak a word of czech after all. And from that evening on I had found my artist name “Yezibaba”.
You can watch a version of that scene in this Youtube clip at about minute 23: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8dXhHjcgAU&ab_channel=Jessica
It gives me the chills every time still.
‘Yezibaba’ is an artistic rendition of the Czech word ježibaba, which can be translated as “wicked old hag” or “witch.” An enchantress like in the tale of The Little Mermaid. Find out more about how I found my Artist Alias and the etymology if it below.
