“Innovate

Koda Smith

Beltsville, MD
Summer 2026 * Art

Artist Statement

My work centers around consequence; exploring the actions that build to create consequences, and living with the repercussions of those consequences. Within this framework, I explore themes of pain, protection, human environmental impact, natural ecological processes, and memory. Texture is imperative to my work. I build up paintings with dozens of layers of oil paint, utilizing both heavy impasto and thinned glazes to mimic sediment deposition and erosion. I use power tools to carve into these layers, sanding them down in an act of forced human intervention, permanently altering the natural build up of material. Dried paint powder settles into the valleys, further complicating the image.

This desire to work in scales of texture derives from my childhood, where I spent nearly every weekend from the ages of 5 to 18 racing amateur motocross. The ruts and bumps formed by spinning tires; the bulldozers building jumps akin to earth-works; the dozens of broken bones, concussions, the ruptured organ: these all play heavily into my work. My sculptures act as protective devices. Wall sculptures are made of used racing boots. Some paintings are adorned with aluminum and carbon fiber skid plates and bash guards, reimagining the ornate frame as something that obfuscates the painting while offering more protection than its ornate predecessors.

Other paintings are entirely encased in solid billet aluminum, allowing the painting to hide and conceal its true nature while only showing what wants to be seen. Physical material is extremely important to my work. Aluminum, steel, plastics, carbon fiber, silicone. All materials I grew up intimately with, and all materials that have innate properties that allude to stories beyond their constraints. Strength, weakness, weight, protection, value, pain.. Subconscious memories of color (of the bikes, the gear, the dirt, the dew laden grass on a Sunday morning) influence my color palette. I prefer monochromatic color fields in my landscapes. I envision these memories of a landscape have metastasized and created their own noxious atmospheres; the consequence of allowing a memory to stew and simmer for decades

Works

Surrender, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel, 12x8x1 inches

Hoarse, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel, 12x8x1 inches

Hidden, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel,12x8x1 inches

Innocence Gone, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel,12x8x1 inches

Raised Fist, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel,12x8x1 inches

Compression, 2026, acrylic, articulating spine model, steel, thermoplastic adhesive, 34x4x3 inches

Fat Lip, 2024, Thermormed plastic, polyurethane, nylon, steel, aluminum, dirt, 18x12x10 inches

Bruise 2, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches

Bruise 4, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches

Bruise 16, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches

Bruise 12, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches

Bruise 11, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches

Installation Views

MACHINE BODY INTERFACING, Spare Room Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Photo Credit: Kristofer Heng

About the Artist

Koda Smith (b. 1995, Scranton, PA) is a self taught contemporary artist currently residing in Maryland. Smith has showcased works across the East Coast in both solo and group gallery presentations. Selected exhibitions include MACHINE BODY INTERFACING (solo, 2026) at Spare Room Gallery, Baltimore, MD; Report From Nori Mountain (group, 2025) at Smilers, New York City, NY, and Spring Cleaning (group, 2023) at Soft Serve Projects, ridgewood, NY.

kodasmithstudio.com
@kodasmithstudio

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