Artist Bio
Lars Westby was born in Bellefonte Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in Ceramics from Penn State University and an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. After receiving his MFA he worked on boats and on restoring older 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 had a biomorphic/industrial feel related to his travels and previous work in restoring houses. Conceptually they talked about work itself and the relationship of the hand in creating. After having an inspiration/epiphany of sorts he began creating a series of abstract acrylic paintings. One series involves creating a high relief surface of points of paint akin to stalactites. The other series is created by dripping thousands of droplets of paint on a canvas. He currently teaches at Anne Arundel Community College and has taught at numerous other schools in the Maryland area. Westby has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally and has received numerous national awards. 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 lives in the Annapolis/Eastern Shore area where he works as a multidisciplinary studio Artist in Ceramics and Paintings.