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My goal is to create works of art that resonate with honesty and reflect the beauty and chaos of the world. My art is influenced by human artifacts from ancient times to the present, as well as by my personal experiences and emotions. Like the varied objects I draw on for inspiration--from 1940s knitting catalogs and outsider art, to Native American cedar carvings and Degas' sculptures of dancers--my artworks force an explanation of reality and compel viewers to connect to a larger human experience. I work in various media, including drawing, collage, and sculpture.
Currently I am focusing on ceramic sculpture based on expressive images of the figure I find in a variety of source materials. There are so many figures out there in the world, wearing so many poses and costumes; I find those that resonate and interpret them in clay. Each sculpture expresses an intense inner psychological state, its surface effecting a fluctuating quality, part beautiful, part grotesque.
I grew up in Portland Oregon and continue to live and work here.
CYNTHIA LAHTI
EDUCATION
1997
Received a scholarship to participate in the class Bas-Relief Sculpture at The Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
1994
Selected to participate in the class Creating a Story Through Lost Wax Casting at the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
1992
Oregon School of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
1989
Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
1985
Bachelors of Fine arts, Illustration Department, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
RESIDENCIES & PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
2012
Residency, Zentrum für Keramik, Berlin, Germany
2011
Lecture, Adelphi University, Art Department, Garden City, NY
2007
Residency, Caldera Arts Center, Sisters, OR
Senior Residency in Ceramics, Oregon College of Arts & Crafts, Portland, OR
2004
Intersection, October 2003- October 2004, selected to observe and create artwork about life within five fire stations located in Portland, OR
2002
August 16 – August 26, Iron Rodeo at Maryhill Museum, Selected to participate in a ten-day iron casting residency program held at the Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013
Elsewhere, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2012
Berlin Works - Ausstellung von Cynthia Lahti, Zentrum für Keramik, Berlin, Germany
2011
NURSE, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2009
Smile, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2007
Daughter, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2005
New Found Land, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2004
A Secret History, Hauser Memorial Library, Reed College, Portland, OR
2002
Sculpture and Drawings, The Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
2000
New Works, The Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
1997
New Views, The Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
1997
Marylhurst Art Gym, Lake Oswego, OR
1994
Heads, A Site-Specific Installation, Nine Gallery, Portland, OR
1993
Dresses, Nine Gallery, Portland, OR
1990
Blue Gallery, Portland, OR
1989
Northwest Artist Workshop, Portland, OR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012
Portland2012: A Biennial of Contemporary Art, Marylhurst Art Gym, Portland, OR
2011
The Return of the Native, two-person show, Kala@Hipfish Monthly, Astoria, OR
2011, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2010
Forget Me Not, Reading Frenzy, Portland, OR
Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial 2010, juried exhibition, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
Summer Group Show, PDX Across the Hall, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Texas National, Juried by Judy Pfaff, Nacogdoches, TX
Group Show, PDX Across the Hall, Portland, OR
2009
Portland Comes to Astoria, Astoria, OR
2008
Kinda Like a Buffet, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Works in glass" PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
OCAC Studio School Instructor Show, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
2006
Portrait Show, Hall Gallery, Portland OR
2005
Next, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR.
2003
Sculptural Invitational, Campbell Hall Gallery, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR
Iron Rodeo," Spokane Falls Community College Art Gallery, Spokane, WA
Core Sample, An Exhibition of Exhibitions of Portland Art Now," Portland, OR (Included in the shows "Crafty," "The Hunt," and Draw")
Bibliocosmos, Douglas Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OR
Iron Rodeo, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
Eighteen Women, The Art Center Gallery, curated by Prudence Roberts and Bill Ittman, Clatsop Community College, Astoria, OR
2002
7th Outdoor Sculpture Invitational, Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, WA
Common Code, Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Art About Agriculture Tour, Corvallis, Bend, Klamath Falls, OR
2001
Art Objects: PDX, Portland International Airport, Portland, OR
1998
Way In: An Exhibition of Glass Doors, The Bullseye Connection Gallery, Portland, OR (commissioned to create cast glass relief panels, which were incorporated into a door)
AWARDS
2010
Finalist, Contemporary Northwest Art Awards, Portland, OR
2009
Nominee, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Awards in Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Photography, Video and Craft Media
2008
Career Opportunity Grand for Artists, Oregon Arts Commission
2006
Artist Fellowship, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR
1997
Art Slate ‘97, Condon, OR
1993
Willamette Valley Exhibition, Corvallis Art Center, Corvallis, OR
INSTALLATIONS
2004
A Secret History, Reed College Library Cases, Portland, OR. A site specific installation containing drawn and sculpted elements.
1998
Portland Building Installation Space, Portland, OR. Diorama, a site-specific installation shown.
1994
Heads, Nine Gallery, Portland, OR
1993
Dresses, Nine Gallery, Portland, OR
COMMISSIONS
2008
SNOW: an interactive, site-specific installation, Portland, OR
2004
Interstate Max Public Art, TriMet, Portland OR. Drawing reproduced in enamel on steel
2003
Intersection, residency to create artwork about life in five fire stations in Portland, OR
2002
The Drawing Center, New York, NY. Drawings accepted into Registry
2002
Iron Rodeo, Maryhill Museum, Goldendale, WA. Residency to create two cast iron sculptures
1998
August 6- September 12, Way In: An Exhibition of Glass Doors, The Bullseye Connection, Portland, OR. Commissioned to create cast glass relief panels, which were incorporated into a door
1995
Visual Chronicle of Portland. Drawing commissioned for inclusion into the Visual Chronicle of Portland art collection
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
Vaeth, Sarah, "Portland2012 at Disjecta Portland," ARTWRIT, March
Lechner, Jenna, "Welcom to Portland, 2012," Daily Serving, March 20
2011
Lechner, Jenna, “Commanding Compassion: The Intimate Sculptures of Cynthia Lahti,” The Portland Mercury, Sept. 15
"First Thursday Picks September 2011," PORT, Sept. 9
“Cynthia Lahti,” Plazm, Nov. 30
Hesa Inprint, issue #7, August
Kangas, Matthew, “Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial 2010: Clay Throwdown,” Ceramics Monthly, April
"Cynthia Lahti," Ceramics Now Magazine, March
2009
"First Thursday Picks," PORT, April
2008
Shapton, Leanne, "Style Dispatch, Portland, OR," Elle, December, p. 96
“You Need Art,” photo credit, Portland Monthly Magazine, March
2007
Raymond, Jon, "Cynthia Lahti at PDX Contemporary Art," ArtForum, September
Norris, T.K., "Mayday, Mayday," TJNORRIS.NET, May 5
"First Thursday Picks: May 2007," PORT, May
2006
Raymond, Jon, "Schims: Less Gloom in Doom Town," Modern Painters, November
Roberts, Prudence, "Cynthia Lahti at PDX Contemporary Art," Artweek
2005
Kendellen, Peggy, Artits + Firefighters + Memorable Experiences, Art Notes, The Regional Arts & Culture Council, Vol. 10 No. 6, May/June, p.1
Peterson, Isaac, New Found Land – Cynthia Lahti at PDX Contemporary Art, PORT, December 21
2004
Gragg, Randy, and Matthew Stadler, ed. Core Sample: Portland Art Now, Clear Cut Press, Astoria, OR
Raymond, Camela, Art Diary, The Organ Review of Arts, Portland Or. Jan/Feb, p.4
2003
The Organ Review of Arts. Portland Or. Feb/March, p.6 (drawing)
2002
Hall, Stan, Ten Day Planner, The Oregonian, May 31, p. A&E 31.
2000
Row, D.K., Critics Picks, The Oregonian, February 3,
1997
Row, D.K. The Gothic Images, Willamette Week, July 16
Gragg, Randy, Images in Plaster, The Oregonian, August 1
Caldwell, Frances, Portland Women Make it in the Gallery Scene, The Woman’s Journal. July p.10
Cynthia Lahti, Small Plaster Relief Sculptures, The Art Gym. Maryhurst University, OR. February
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Reed College, Portland, OR
King County Public Art Collection, Harborview Medical Center Collection, Seattle, WA
Oregon Health Sciences, Portland, OR
Boise Art Museum, Boise,ID
lumber room, Portland, OR