Multi-disciplinary Senegalese-American artist Natou Fall’s life was tumultuous, as she dealt with constant changes in her early years. Once she discovered her creativity within the art space, life made sense.
“Yeah, art became a coping mechanism around middle school because of all the changes that were happening in my life,” Fall said about her connection to art. “I always liked art growing up, but I really started to dive deep into it while trying to adjust to all the moving around and lack of cultural community living in Florida.”
Fall was originally born in Paris, France, but her family moved back to Senegal and then to DC, all within the first five years of her life. “It didn’t last long. “Winters were brutal for me living in DC because of my sickle cell anemia, and since I was young, I didn’t have the necessary language to describe the pain I was in from my disease, which weighed on my family at times.” The Fall family decided to move to Florida not only because they won a lottery for a green card but also due to Fall’s disease.
Fall’s art skills came naturally to her as she started with sketches and doodles of her favorite cartoon characters in class, and also drew inspiration from art websites. Once she reached high school, she developed her ceramics skills, and while her health was in a positive place, her future was questionable because of the educational decisions ahead.
“My parents didn’t play about school, and talking to them about what I wanted to major in — in college — was a conversation that brought more anxiety than anything else,” Fall said. “I knew they weren’t going to agree with me majoring in art, so I had to figure out a way to say it without admitting it,” Fall said.
Her parents’ answer wasn’t an immediate no, but a soft-handed ‘hell no.’
After the conversation, Fall and her parents agreed that electrical engineering would be a good way to mix art with a career. It took 3 semesters before Fall realized the compromise wasn’t going to work. “I lost my mind and immediately told my parents this absolutely wasn’t going to work. I took a leave of absence and went back to Senegal and lived with my sister for a few months to get my mind back.” Fall returned to school, majoring in architecture and thriving in the program.
While Fall was enjoying the direction her life was going in, she still felt like something was missing. She recalled, “I was so bored working out of an office, and the closest thing I got to creativity was helping people design their cabinets and doors. Then, the homes these families were building were so boring and bland. “At that moment, Fall realized she was back at a crossroads in life—trying to incorporate art while simultaneously pleasing her parents.
Reflecting on this period, she said, “Maybe if I had this screw-it attitude from the jump and told my parents what I actually wanted to do from the start, I wouldn’t have wasted time doing stuff for temporary happiness.”
Fall changed her scenery and moved from DC to LA, attending SCI-ARC college. Once enrolled, the program immediately changed her creative process. “They taught me a lot about the creative process, and instead of being taught to be an architect, I was being taught how to build art, which was the breath of fresh air I needed.” She finally felt at home—not culturally but creatively—saying, “This was the first moment I felt like everything blended together and made sense.” Then Covid happened.
During COVID, Falls entered a mental spiral as everything shut down, and she wasn’t able to find inspiration to create art or even replace the creative urge with her architecture work. “It was a rough moment in life; it was mentally intense for me because I wanted to create but also had a mental block and couldn’t come up with anything.” It took a long time for Fall to get out of her rut, but when she did, it changed her trajectory.
Fall took her ceramics skills she developed in high school and started making molds of her face and filmed her process. Her school also offered her a teaching job in the architecture program, which she used to create her art and inspire her students to keep their creativity while making designs. “It was like a synergy was happening, and I was getting back to a better version of me.
Fall went on to create more art and found her footing in her artistry. Her pieces were featured in the Band of Vices exhibit in 2022 and Butter LA. “I met Nakeyta Moore, the curator of Butter, a national Black art fair, in 2024 through a mutual friend. They showed her my work, and next thing I know, I received an email from her asking for more work, then boom, I was at Butter’s art fair in Indianapolis.” Since then, Fall has expanded her portfolio, using her talent to create a series of coded artworks. “I want to inspire others and let them know that no matter what, keep going. Even if it’s a wall in front of you, you keep hitting that wall until it breaks, and don’t stop.”
