Lars Westby

Artist Bio

Lars Westby was born in Bellefonte Pennsylvania, USA. He earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in Ceramics from Penn State University and an MFA in Fine Art from the University of Colorado, Boulder. After receiving his MFA he worked on boats and on restoring historic homes in Maryland and Pennsylvania for a number of years before moving to Baltimore, MD to work as a full time Artist. During this time he worked primarily in creating large ceramic sculptures often done in multiples. These works have a biomorphic/industrial feel related to where he grew up and his travels.

Conceptually Lar's pieces speak to the relationship of the hand in creating. After having an inspiration/epiphany of sorts he began creating two series of abstract acrylic paintings. One series involves creating a high relief surface of paint that protrudes from the picture surface like a field of colorful stalactites. The other series is created by dripping thousands of droplets of paint on a canvas through a grid/screen. The droplet paintings are highly colorful and abstract yet allude to something in their layers. The effect is a mystery of image and paint.  Westby has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally and has received numerous national awards and honors. He has received three Maryland State Individual Artist Awards in 2005, 2007 and 2012 and was a Baker Artist Award Finalist in 2023, 2022 and 2019. He was a former resident artist at Baltimore Clayworks and was a guest artist at Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan, in 2007. He teaches and lives in the Annapolis/Eastern Shore area where he works as a multidisciplinary studio Artist in Ceramics and Paintings.