Naomi Peterson creates cute objects that invite consideration beyond the inanimate. She mixes bright colors and soft patterns with hard materials to explore the emotive potential of functional things. Dot-like patterns permeate the work wherein individual elements, insignificant on their own, are connected and augmented by proximity to others; the emptiness is full rather than lacking. Using her traditional ceramic background as a lens to view material and process, she builds forms layer by layer, often integrating analog and digital methods. Her practice centers on the utility of ornament as a vehicle for joy.
Naomi is a full-time ceramic artist based in Kansas City, Missouri. Naomi received her MFA in ceramics from the University of North Texas (2021) and her BFA in ceramics at the University of Wyoming (2017). She has been an artist-in-residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, participated in the Neltje artist-in-residence program in 2018, and recently participated in the Winter 2025 Pentaculum at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts; currently, she is an artist-in-residence at KC Clay Guild. In 2024, Ceramics Monthly selected Naomi as a 2024 Emerging Artist. Naomi has taught at various institutions nationally such as the Glassell School of Art and Art League Houston in addition to teaching workshops online and in person.
