Hāwanawana (Whisper) Print

Naomi is a multi-disciplinary Artist with thirty plus years of experience. It started as a way to escape the trauma of a dysfunctional childhood and turned into a lifetime career. Once an adult, she apprenticed with a custom furniture maker, was commissioned by The Milwaukee Museum of Art, and produced mixed media sculptures for Hyatt Hotels and other retail establishments. She was also introduced to film making by Stephanie Barber, and began producing her own short experimental films, combining collage and photography. A brief career in prop making for The Minneapolis Children’s theater paved her way for working in the art department on various film and commercial shoots when she moved to Hawaii in 1999. This sparked a love for the photographic image and she switched to working as a camera assistant. She worked closely with Paul Chesley of National Geographic fame and David Ulrich, author of Zen Camera. Eventually showing her own photographic collections in solo exhibits around Honolulu. In 2011 she was featured in The Artists of Hawaii Biennial at the Honolulu Museum of Art. With moves to France and NYC to pursue yoga, tantra, and wellness. She continued to evolve her eye for imagery and stayed inspired by the rich artistic culture of these epic places. Also took a brief trip to LA, to spend a semester at Global Cinematography Institute alongside master cinematographers Yuri Neyman and Vilmos Zsigmond. Back in NYC, she curated a collection of photographs from the Seeing With Photography collective for the set of Sightlines. And also participated in weekly light painting sessions. Longing to return to a tropical ocean lifestyle she moved back to Hawaii and fell ill. “Ulcerative Colitis” ravaged her life for a couple years with long stays in the hospital. In 2020 her colon was removed in a life saving emergency surgery. She rehabilitated herself by walking the beach and using her phone camera to awaken her creativity. She now lives with an ileostomy pouch and spends time in Mexico archiving her collections, making art, selling prints, and transforming her collages/photography into NFT art. www.naomiolsonphoto.com