Artist Biography

Born in Duisburg, Germany in 1942, Frigga Shishe is a German contemporary visual artist whose work embodies a soulful reflection on the beauty of everyday life in color and in black and white.

Frigga discovered her passion for painting as a child and nurtured it through decades of exploration and transformation across continents…Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America and through journeys to more than thirty-five countries…each leaving its imprint on her artistic language.

In her twenties, she lived in the South of France, embracing the free-spirited life of a bohemian artist. She painted in cafés, on the streets, and among a vibrant community of dreamers and creatives. In her thirties, love carried her to Africa, where she began a new chapter with her Nigerian husband in the early seventies. A union that blossomed into three children. Immersed in the rhythm and vibrancy of Nigerian life for more than two decades, her artistic voice flourished, and she painted on canvas, fabric, and paper. She ran a boutique featuring her hand-painted textiles and crocheted designs. Though many of her early works were not preserved, their spirit remains woven into her artistic legacy.

Her creative journey deepened in 1999 after the loss of her youngest child. Painting became her sanctuary where she could translate sorrow and silence into beautiful artworks, as she grieved the loss of her son. During this period, she created monochromatic works in black and white. With time, and through the joy of welcoming grandchildren, her palette blossomed once more with vibrant colors and Frigga’s passage from mourning to a luminous embrace of life is seen in the evolution of her works.

What began as a deeply personal practice, gradually blossomed into the realization of a lifelong dream…to use her art as a bridge connecting generations. In 2022, Frigga exhibited publicly for the first time in San Antonio, Texas, alongside her daughter, artist Okiemute Shishe, in a joint exhibition titled “Family Story”, a heartfelt celebration of love and the bonds that unite family. In January 2025, a private viewing of her works was held at OShishe Studios in Lagos, Nigeria, where she was honored for her enduring creativity. Later that year, in June, her paintings were featured in a group exhibition at the Eye of the Beholder Gallery in San Antonio, Texas further expanding her artistic footprint on the global stage. Today, her works are held in private collections in Germany and internationally.

Now in her eighties, Frigga resides in Hamburg, Germany, where she continues to paint with quiet devotion, inspired by the people and places that have shaped her remarkable life’s journey. Her art stands as a timeless testament to gratitude…a luminous celebration of creativity, love, and the enduring beauty found in family, friendship, and life itself.