(Left to Right) "Cousins," 2005. 15 raku-fired ceramic sculptures arranged in a group, 26 x 26 x 12½ in. Photo: Daniel Petterson. "Western Nocturnal," 2016. Metal, plastic objects combined with broken ceramic sculpture created by the artist, 18 x 16 x 9 in. Photo: Cynthia Lahti
Cynthia Lahti creates artworks that are visually alluring and beautiful, despite their overt imperfections and sometimes-humble materials.
Her practice encompasses drawing, collage, and sculpture, and is influenced by human artifacts from ancient times to the present, as well as by personal experiences and emotions. Cynthia Lahti grew up in Portland, Oregon, leaving to earn her bachelor’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating in 1985 she returned to Oregon where she continues to live and make art, finding inspiration in both its physical and psychological landscape and the way it encourages a fearless studio practice. Lahti’s work has been exhibited widely, including Ditch Projects, Springfield, Oregon; Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), and the Portland Art Museum, in Portland, Oregon; the Maryhill Museum, Goldendale, Washington; and Zentrum für Keramik, Berlin, Germany. She was awarded the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship in 2015, the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Individual Support Grant in 2017 and the Oregon Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in 2018.