Grace Kisa was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Her father’s profession as an economist afforded my family the opportunity to travel and live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, McLean, Virginia, Toronto, Canada then Gaborone, Botswana before she came to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue a degree in Art form the Art Institute In Atlanta. She now lives in Lawrenceville, Georgia a suburb outside of Atlanta where She makes a living as an artist. Lawrenceville, Georgia is located in Gwinnett County which has recently been described as the most culturally diverse county in the South. She grew up as a “third culture kid." Kay Branaman Eakin describes a third culture kid as “someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more cultures other than their own, thus integrating elements of those cultures, and their own birth culture, into a third culture."
One In All
Grace Kisa and Ellex Swavoni | 2020
The Egyptian goddess Ma’at, along with the activism of African American women and Afrofuturism, are the inspiration for this installation which contemplates the idea of a cosmic balance and divine order. The principles of Ma’at act as framework for how one should behave and speak. Truth and Justice lead to Divine order to ensure the way things should be. As the Earth responds to the stars and the planets, so does this installation to its environment, the sun, and the moon. The figure is the personification of harmony and the 3-sided wall is her balance. A universal order and the path of truth are essential to keeping the world running.