Naomi J. Falk grew up in the wilds of Michigan and, from an early age, planned to be an archaeologist, a brain surgeon, a heart surgeon, a meteorologist, and travel the world with Jacques Cousteau (an underwater explorer and conservationist and made films for tv about his adventures). Those didn’t work out, but she did study sculpture and ceramics at Michigan State and Portland State Universities and receive an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Ruminating on our relationships with manufactured and natural landscapes, Falk’s work considers grief, loss, and communal and environmental survival. She explores the stories and implications embedded in (still useful) recycled and reclaimed objects (clothing, textiles, and construction materials). 

A tinkerer and explorer she builds in playful iterations—is it better this way or that? Through collaboration and conversation with people and places, Falk plays where material, cultural, and ecological histories intersect, creating sculptural and fiber-based works and immersive installations. How might foraged materials be gathered and reframed to build objects and experiences that comfort, support, challenge, and sustain us?

Falk has exhibited at well-respected regional and national venues and done residencies in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and throughout the United States. A university art professor for 20 years, she was recently the Fall 2024 Fibers Fellow at Colorado College. Falk lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado and leads natural dyeing workshops with Blue Hands Art and is Co-Creator of www.WhatDoWeDoNow.art and a new local art collective, Blue Acorn Art Lab.