Emily Baker
Multidisciplinary Artist, Land Steward, & Creative Director
Wonder Valley, CA | B. Seattle, WA, 1975
emilybakerworks.com | Wonder Mountain Open Source Space
Artist Profile
Emily Baker is a multidisciplinary artist, land steward, and polymath based in Wonder Valley, California. Her practice spans land art, natural pigment foraging, sound design, photography, moving image, sculpture, and somatic installation. As the founder and creative director of Wonder Mountain Open Source Space (WMOSS), she operates an artist residency program centering creative practice, land-based research, and rest in the High Desert.
Her ongoing project, Slow Earth Color, explores geology, stewardship, and somatic resilience through hand-milling natural pigments harvested from volcanic transition zones in the central Mojave Desert. Creating living paints through pre-industrial mineral processing and elemental transformation, her work investigates deep time, tactile memory, and the unseen energy of regional landscapes.
Selected Exhibitions & Group Shows
2013 — SUN/LIGHT, Group Exhibition, Portland Museum of Modern Art (PMOMA), Portland, OR
2013 — Keep Portland Weird, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (Video Art Selection via PICA)
2013 — CONTENT Art Series, ACE Hotel, Portland, OR (Featured Installation: YOUJOY / Water Logic)
2011 — CONTENT Art Series, ACE Hotel, Portland, OR (Site-Specific Installation)
2010 — (Not) So Bright Please, Group Exhibition, Nationale Gallery, Portland, OR
Selected Publications & Editorial Features
2015 — The New Bohemians: Cool and Collected Homes by Justina Blakeney (Featured Interior Designer & Residence)
2015 — The Kinfolk Home (Featured Stylist)
2014 — The New York Times Travel Guide: "36 Hours in Portland, Oregon" (Featured Curator & Studio Owner, Sword + Fern)
Selected Performances & Sound Works
2015 — Live Performance & Sound Work, Blum & Poe Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 — Sound Installation & Performance, Mercado Sagrado, Los Angeles, CA
2013 — Video & Sound Selection, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2011 — Time-Based Art Festival (TBA), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Portland, OR
1997–1998 — Verbal Fury, Weekly Spoken Word Curation & Performance, Portland, OR
Film & Production Design
2018 — Clementine (Feature Film), Production Designer
Awarded at the Tribeca Film Festival
Directorship & Curatorial Practice
2024–Present — Founder & Creative Director, Wonder Mountain Open Source Space (WMOSS), Wonder Valley, CA
Directs a High Desert artist residency program, providing space, operational support, and land-based retreat opportunities for writers, artists, musicians, and researchers.
2008–2014 — Founder, Owner, & Principal Curator, Sword + Fern, Portland, OR
Curated and operated an independent art studio, exhibition space, and sustainable design boutique featuring eco-conscious objects, fine art, and sustainable wearables.
Design Collections & Sustainable Practice
2013 — Memorizer (F/W Collection, Sword + Fern)
Conceptual wearable collection utilizing hand-cut copper, ombre chakra-dyed wood, engraved leather, silk-screened textiles, and cast concrete.
2012 — Water Logic (Sculptural & Home Object Collection)
Debut line of architectural mobiles, tabletop objects, and tactile kinetic sculptures exploring elemental form and Shambhala Buddhist philosophy.
2005–2014 — Principal Designer, Sword + Fern Jewelry & Object Line
Designed eco-conscious, sustainable collections for independent retail and custom capsule releases for clients including Levi’s, Anthropologie, Free People, and Alternative Apparel.
Ecological & Botanical Work
1999–2014 — Herbalist & Plant Medicine Maker, Seattle, WA & Portland, OR
Formulated small-batch herbal preparations, wildcrafted botanicals, and folk remedies utilizing regional plant intelligence.
1999–2007 — Horticulturist & Native Plant Rewilding Specialist, Seattle, WA
Executed sustainable landscape architecture, native ecosystem restoration, and regional rewilding projects.