Short Answer Sunday: Jake Lahah

Meant to elicit quick, intuitive responses, Short Answer Sunday will introduce readers to a wide variety of artists, educators, writers, curators, arts professionals, art enthusiasts and art adjacent individuals whose inclinations I admire. With the intent of getting to know the person behind the artwork as well generating new avenues to artistic discovery, participants may respond with only a few words or an artist's name, always with the opportunity to elaborate if they wish!

Jake Lahah is an artist that I discovered through Ada Gallery in Richmond. We exhibited together at Ada for a summer group show in 2025 and I loved his solo show Image Virus which was up at the gallery last October. His work is right up my alley--we both share a love of color, experimentation and material as metaphor, among other things. Jake is a great artist to follow on Instagram; he generously shares investigations into new materials and methods in the studio, as well as with his teaching. His making practice is expansive and exciting, as he combines a diverse array of materials and techniques with his expertise in print media. I found his responses to my questions to be similarly broad and insightful. Thank you, Jake! For more on Jake Lahah, check out his website and follow him on Instagram.  

xo, Lauren

Name: Jake Lahah

Occupation: Artist & Educator
Astrological data: Capricorn sun, Scorpio moon, Scorpio rising

Hometown: Wildwood, NJ

Current location: Richmond, VA

 

Other than Instagram, how do you find new-to-you artists?

Mostly within my community and through word of mouth. I work in a lot of specialty studios such as print shops, glass studios, and recently ceramic studios. I meet all sorts of people that throw out various artists I should look at. Usually a few stick and I reference and study them frequently.

 

An artwork that makes you laugh?

 

Allyson Mitchell's "Killjoy's Kastle" -> look it up because word's don't do it justice. 

 

An artwork that makes you cry?

 

I hardly ever cry, but I was recently in the Cy Twombly room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. My parents retired out in Lexington, VA which is where Cy grew up. Visiting there a few times each year has given me so much more perspective on his up bringing and how it manifests through his gestures. I generally get emotional anytime I'm in front of one of his works. 

 

Most underrated artist?

 

Tomashi Jackson! She has an impeccable taste for color theory, imagery, and collage practices. Her work really opened my eyes to the nuanced ways that abstraction can exist within works.   

 

Tomashi Jackson, Forever My Lady, installation view, Night Gallery, 2020
Image Source

An artwork that you'd like to live inside for a week?

Christine Tarkowski's "Working on the Failed Utopia"

 

An artist whose work you can't stop thinking about?

 

Stephanie Syjuco! As a projects focused artist, I'm sort of jealous at her ability to have many research topics under the locus of her contemporary practice.

 

An artwork that feels like a warm hug?

 

Sam Gilliam's "Norfolk Keels". You can see it at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk

 

What's your favorite characteristic in an artwork?

 

Color and materiality. I recently discovered that I think this formally drives my intuition in my own work too

 

Erotic artwork? (editors note: this is a multiple choice question)

Yes: ✅

What's an artwork that doesn't look like art?

Honestly, retail displays. I'm always inspired by them and how they are constructed, the material choices they are, and what that marriage tells us about our consumer culture. I see them as sculptures or installations hiding in plain sight.

What is an artwork that you know you shouldn't like, but you do (guilty pleasure)?

I don't have guilty pleasures, I like what I like and generally don't have qualms saying so.

 

Fav monograph or art book?

Amy Sillman - Faux Pas (editor's note: 1000 times yes!!!!)

 

Fav museum or gallery in your current city?

I really love the ICA at VCU, but more recently I've been hanging around the Branch Museum. The architecture in there is kind of atmospheric, and I always learn something new about the city each time I'm there.

 

Last exhibition you saw irl?

I was just recently in Philadelphia and saw "The Living Temple: The World of Moki Cherry". I knew nothing about this artist, but was really inspired by her practice. The Fabric Workshop has excellent programming, in that they often show works that feel attainable from a making standpoint. Nothing in there ever feels like something I couldn't learn how to make. It's really a truly inspiring museum.

 

An artwork that packs a spiritual punch?

Robert Rauschenberg - Pantomime (1961)

 

Robert Rauschenberg, Pantomime, 1961
Image Source

 

What art material do you love to nerd out on?

Fiber art and it's expanded field. There is so much to talk about with fiber and material studies--its relationship to queer history and feminism, its expansive to new materiality and abstraction. I think that studying fiber art is like reading a work really closely, in that you ask questions about every formal thing that you see. It's the type of close reading I practice and teach my students in the classroom.

 

What was the last thing that you listened to in the studio?

I listened to Fall Out Boy's best album "From Under the Cork Tree".

 

What's a book that changed your life?

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. I read it freshman year of college. It's a coming-of-age novel that tackled themes of bullying and the contrast between the mundane and extraordinary. As I've gotten older I've really thought about this book in relationship to my trajectory.

 

❤

 

Jake Lahah is a print, craft, and installation artist that makes research and project focused works about queer histories, labor, built environments, ecosystems, and the public narrative. He received his BFA from George Mason University (2017) and an MFA in Print from Tyler School of Art + Architecture (2024). Some of the notable places that Lahah has shown include: ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD; Candela Books and Gallery, Richmond, VA; Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA; Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA; ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA; Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA; IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, D.C.. He currently teaches at Old Dominion University within the Art Foundations and Drawing + Painting departments, and is gearing up for a month long residency at Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN this May. 

 

See more of Jake Lahah's work on his website and follow him on Instagram!

 

Follow Lauren on Instagram