A native of Davenport, Iowa, Susan Falkman is the daughter of two violinists, who introduced her to music and dance as a child. She graduated from the University of Illinois in 1967 with a teaching degree, which she used for the next two years when she taught in Liberia with the Peace Corps. Falkman’s traveling took her to Paris and Northern Europe for two more years before bringing her back to the U.S. to teach elementary school in Chicago. In 1972, Falkman moved to London and engaged herself in an intense search for identity, which led her to Crete to study ancient civilization. This is where she discovered her affinity for working in stone. Falkman again returned to the U.S. in 1977 to study marble sculpting independently at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Over the next several years Falkman traveled back and forth to Carrara, Italy, where she eventually won a first-prize purchase award for a large sculpture carved at the Sixth International Symposium of Sculpture. The work, entitled “Aperture” was completed in 18 days on August 4th, 1984. Falkman describes her style as meditational. “It requires focus and concentration. My work is really an autobiographical diary.” The bulk of her work is intimately related to her personal struggle for self-realization. The rhythm and flow of music and movement are also present throughout her pieces.