Gathie Falk is one of British Columbia's leading artists. She is an internationally acclaimed painter and sculptor who is best known for the imaginative and conceptual treatment she gives to everyday objects.
She was born in Alexander, Manitoba in 1928 to Mennonite parents. As a child Gathle dreamed of becoming an artist, a musician, a dancer or a writer, and spent countless hours drawing movie stars. Her first formal training In art were Saturday morning art classes held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 1946 Gathie Falk moved with her family to Vancouver and began working full time in a factory to help support them. While working, she completed her high school by correspondence, then in 1952, entered the Provincial Normal School to train as a teacher.
In 1953 she began teaching elementary school in Burnaby and continued this job with much success until 1965. Throughout her career as a teacher she continued to upgrade her qualifications and began to study art and seriously pursue both painting and ceramics in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia.
In 1965 Gathie resigned her teaching position and began to work as an artist full-time. Since then, she has gained much recognition for her painting, ceramic sculpture and performance art, and has consistently won praise from the critics for her surrealist /conceptual approach to visual art. Gathie Is a very prolific artist who continues to exhibit regularly. She has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Canada, the United States, France and Japan. Her art can be found in more than 35 private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada. In 1990, Gathie was awarded the $25,000 Gershon Iskowitz Prize for her contribution to Canadian Art.