Koak
Koak (b. 1981, USA), based in San Francisco, is known for work that portrays the complex duality of identity and human nature through a mastery of the line which extends across drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation. Rendered with exquisite technique and seemingly effortless mark-making, her emotionally charged figures and landscapes are imbued with a compelling sense of agency and inner life.
Through her work, Koak reclaims the female gaze, using her paintings to confront the objectification of women by male artists over centuries. Her figures express a range of emotions, from boldness to vulnerability, as she delves into the complexity of human experience. The artist notes that her paintings are “about archetypes of self that we have that are developed throughout our life or are internalised by experience,” suggesting that she is both engaging with and intentionally subverting these deeply ingrained archetypes.
Recent solo exhibitions include: The Window Set, Charleston in Lewes, UK (2025), Lake Marghrete, Perrotin, Paris (2024), Letter to Myself (when the world is on fire), Altman Siegel, San Francisco (2023), The Driver, Perrotin, Hong Kong (2022), Return to Feeling, Altman Siegel, San Francisco (2020) and Holding Breath, Union Pacific, London (2019). Selected group exhibitions include: Infinite Regresse: Mystical Abstraction from the Permanent Collection and Beyond, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas (2024), I’ve got a feeling, Musées d’Angers, Angers (2023), I’m Stepping High, I’m Drifting, and There I Go Leaping, XIAO Museum, Rizhao (2022), Familiars, Et. Al Gallery, San Francisco (2022) and New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley (2021), amongst others.
Communion, 2025, flashe, acrylic, chalk from the cliffs of Seven Sisters, and casein on canvas, signed and dated on verso, 55 1/2 x 42 in (141 cm x 106.7 cm)
Blue Hour / Portrait of Vanessa, 2025, flashe and acrylic on linen, signed and dated on verso, 86 x 68.75 in (218.4 x 174.6 cm)
The Butterfly Net, 2025, flashe and acrylic on linen, signed and dated on verso, 86 x 68.75 in (218.4 x 174.6 cm)
Fugue State, 2025, flashe, acrylic and graphite on linen, signed and dated on verso, 30 x 22 in (76.2 x 55.9 cm)
Dreams of Flowers, 2025, flashe, graphite, and pastel on natural rag paper, signed and dated on verso, 11 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (29.8 x 21.6 cm); 16.9 x 13.8 in., framed (43 x 35 cm, framed)
Dreams of Letting Go, 2025, pastel, graphite, and casein on natural rag paper, signed and dated on verso, 11 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (29.8 x 21.6 cm); 16.9 x 13.8 in., framed (43 x 35 cm, framed)
Modesty, 2023, solid maple, optium plexiglass, plexiglass, metal hardware, enamel paint, and drawings on rag paper dyed with acrylic ink drawn in graphite, charcoal, chalk, ink and casein, 208.5 x 190.5 x 58.5 cm
Below Here a Deep Well, 2022, flashe, acrylic, charcoal, and chalk on linen mounted to panel, 66 1/2 x 50 1/16 in each, 168.9 x 127.2 cm
Self Portrait w/ Flowers, 2022, flashe, acrylic, graphite, pencil, pastel, chalk, and casein on linen, 40 x 30 in, 101.6 x 76.2 cm
Facade, 2022, oil, acrylic, flashe, and graphite on canvas, 108 1/2 x 84 in, 275.6 x 213.4 cm
California, 2021, flashe, acrylic, graphite, pigment, and chalk on linen mounted to panel
196.8 x 157.5 cm
Bench, 2020, cast bronze and walnut, 218.4 x 87.6 x 78.7 cm
Red String, 2021, acrylic, pastel, graphite and casein on canvas, 195 cm x 157 cm
A Certain Sort Of Depth, 2020, oil, acrylic and graphite on linen mounted over panel, 25.4 cm x 20.32 cm
Breathless, 2019, acrylic, pastel, graphite, and casein on stretched canvas 79 1/2 x 59 in 201.9 x 149.9 cm
Shift In Heat, 2019, acrylic, pastel, pigment, chalk, and graphite on linen mounted to panel 52 x 71 1/2 in / 132.1 x 181.6 cm
Like Flesh to Wolves, 2019, oil, acrylic, pigment, and graphite on stretched muslin 15 x 12 in / 38.1 x 30.5 cm
We're Still Here, 2019, pastel, graphite, and casein on pearl grey rag paper 10 x 8 in / 25.4 x 20.3 cm
Thinking of You, 2017, graphite, charcoal, and casein on pale blue rag paper, 14 x 11 in / 35.6 x 27.9 cm
The Dreamer, 2025, concrete and steel, signed and dated on verso, Main body: 87.5 x 22 x 39.5 in (220.89 cm x 99.6 cm x 60.96 cm); base: 48 x 22 in (121.98 cm x 55.88 cm)
Lungs Filled With Air, 2025, flashe, acrylic, chalk from the cliffs of Seven Sisters, and casein on linen, signed and dated on verso, 84 x 108.5 in (213.4 x 275.6 cm)
My Longing, 2025, flashe, pastel, graphite and acrylic on linen, signed and dated on verso, 40 x 30 in (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
The Yellow Wallpaper, 2025, flashe, pastel, acrylic, chalk from the cliffs of Seven Sisters, graphite, and casein on linen, signed and dated on verso, 30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Dreams of Tender, 2025, flashe, graphite, and pastel on natural rag paper, signed and dated on verso, 11 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (29.8 x 21.6 cm); 16.9 x 13.8 in., framed (43 x 35 cm, framed)
Date Night, 2023, flashe and acrylic on canvas, 61 x 48.5 in, 154.9 x 123.2 cm
Letter to Myself on a Bent Ship, 2022, flashe, acrylic, charcoal, charcoal paint, and graphite on linen mounted to panel, 10 x 8 in, 25.4 x 20.3 cm
It’s Bad, 2022, graphite, gouache, casein, and beva 371 on found paper and pearl grey rag paper 12 x 9 in, 30.5 x 22.9 cm
Untitled, 2022, graphite, casein, and beva 371 on found paper and pearl grey rag paper and acrylic ink dyed fawn rag paper, 12 1/4 x 9 in, 31.1 x 22.9 cm
Sun Dour, 2022, bronze, 15 x 15 x 10 in, 38.1 x 38.1 x 25.4 cm
To Be Touched, 2020, acrylic, pigment, pastel, chalk and graphite on linen, 76.2 x 101.6 cm
Little Helper A, 2017, bronze with custom patina, 21 x 8 x 23 1/2 in / 53.3 x 20.3 x 59.7 cm, Edition of 10
Recessing, 2020, oil and graphite on muslin mounted to panel, 10 x 8 in / 25 cm x 20 cm
Pacifica, 2019, acrylic, pigment, pastel, chalk, and graphite on linen mounted to panel, 52 x 71 1/2 in 132.1 x 181.6 cm
The Hermit (Caged Breath), 2019, acrylic, pigment, pastel, oil, chalk, graphite, and milk casein on linen mounted to panel 60 x 48 in / 152.4 x 121.9 cm
When Our Bare Wounds Show, 2019, acrylic, pigment, and graphite on muslin mounted to panel 60 x 48 in / 152.4 x 121.9 cm
The Trade, 2019, oil, acrylic, pigment, graphite, and chalk on stretched muslin 15 x 12 in / 38.1 x 30.5 cm
In The Mood, 2019, graphite, charcoal, and casein on fawn rag paper dyed with acrylic ink 14 x 11 in / 35.6 x 27.9 cm
The Gift, 2017, graphite and casein on rag paper, 15 x 1 in / 38.1 x 2.5 cm