Elizabeth West is an emerging, interdisciplinary artist, living and working in Wisconsin. Her roots are in ceramics, in which she received her degree at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. During and after her time in school, West taught ceramics classes at The Phipps in Hudson, WI, and in NC at a residency through The Bascom: A Center for Visual Art. Her time in North Carolina expanded her knowledge and understanding of clay and introduced her to the cultural and social impact that functional ceramics possess. This sparked her current exploration of functionality and how objects influence us in personal, historical and social contexts.
Since branching into digital photography and video performance, West has been exhibited across the U.S. including VisArts Center, Rockville, MD; Annemarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, Solomons, MD; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; No. 7 Center Gallery, Vermillion, SD; and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gimpo-si, South Korea.
West is also part of the collective,
Polyester Projects, which in early 2022 had their first exhibition
Searching for the Absurd, at The Phipps in Hudson, WI. In May 2024 they presented a new body of work at the Weitz Center for Creativity at Carleton College in Northfield, MN.
This year, West also co-founded
WHAT Art School, an evolution of
WHAT Art Gallery which she helped start in in 2021 in St. Croix Falls, WI, which features local, national, and international artists. WHAT Art School will adopt a structure similar to folk and craft schools, and be committed to arts education and encourage instructors, staff, and students to share their experiences and knowledge openly in a safe, inclusive and diverse environment.