Cynthia Lahti (born 1963) is an American

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

ist from

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, who works in many mediums: "from collage to ceramics, altered books, and painting".

Early life and education

Lahti was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. She attended Woodrow Wilson High School, and in 1985 earned a B.F.A. at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

. In 1989 she attended the

Pacific Northwest College of Art The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...

, and in 1992 she studied at the

Oregon College of Art and Craft The Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) was a Private college, private art school, art college from 1907 to 2019 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The college granted Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees as well as art-focu ...

. Her post-graduate work was at Pilchuck Glass School in

Stanwood, Washington Stanwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city is located north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River near Camano Island. As of the 2020 United States ...

Critical reception

Lahti's works are held in collections at

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

, Boise Art Museum, King County Public Art Collection and

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public university, public research university, research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded ...

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is an art museum in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The Portland Art Museum has 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2) of gallery space. The museum’s permanent c ...

said: "Her art 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."

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

reviewer Leah Ollman wrote, "Cynthia Lahti’s figures shape-shift from clay to stuffed animal, photograph or tree branch, from one form of graceful to another, or from delicate to endearingly clumsy."

Art Forum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

called her "a long-underrecognized artist’s artist", writing of her works in various media, "Lahti’s purposefully raw, emotionally direct objects bring to mind the accidental elegance of childhood craft projects, but here the results are fraught with disturbing nuances that make a viewer wonder: Can one feel nostalgia for pain?" The Zentrum für Keramik in Berlin said her "work explores human emotions through the evocative power of the figure." The

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) is a contemporary performance and visual arts organization in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. PICA was founded in 1995 by Kristy Edmunds. Since 2003, it has presented the annual Time-Bas ...

described her work as reflecting "a collective conscience with imagery that is deeply referential of Lathi’s own personal experience and emotions. Her sculpture, drawings and photographs become relics made from real materials, methods and symbols that hope to offer an explanation of reality."

Career

Lahti was a participating artist in ''Curator and Critic Tours Connective Conversations: Inside Oregon Art 2011-2014'', a program of the

Oregon Arts Commission The Oregon Arts Commission is a governor-appointed body of nine commissioners who allocate grants for artists based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It receives the bulk of its funding through the National Endowment for the Arts, the state, and the O ...

sponsored by The Ford Family Foundation and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Her work is held in the collections of

Portland Community College Portland Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Colu ...

, Boise Art Museum,

, the King County Public Art Collection and

. In the 2022 narrative feature film, '' Showing Up'', directed by

Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt (; born March 3, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for her minimalism, minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working class, working-class characters in small ...

, Cynthia Lahti’s sculptural work is prominently featured as that of the fictional main character, Lizzy, played by

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

Selected exhibitions

* ''The Body, The Object, The Other.'' Craft Contemporary, Park La Brea, Los Angeles California, January – 25, 2020–January 10, 2021 * ''Let's Get Lost,'' PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon, June 30, 2015 – August 1, 2015 * ''Cynthia Lahti: Battle,'' PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon, March 3, 2015 – March 28, 2015 * ''We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order To Live,'' Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, January 18, 2014 – March 16, 2014

Awards

The

awarded Lahti a 2006 Artist Fellowship and a 2008 Career Opportunity Grant for Artists. In 2013 she won a Hallie Ford Fellowship for artists, and in 2015 she was awarded the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship. Lahti was awarded the 2017 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant. In 2018, the

selected her for an Individual Artist Fellowship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lahti, Cynthia 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Living people Oregon College of Art and Craft alumni 1963 births