Artist based in Beltsville, MD
Koda Smith, Portrait of the Artist
Tell us about yourself, what's your background?
I grew up in a very small, rural town in northeastern Pennsylvania. From a young age I had a deep connection to art, but I didn't always know I wanted to be an artist. I was always drawing and making comic books with my friends, but growing up I had dreams of being a professional motocross racer. Every weekend we were at the race track. I think its here that I learned creative intuition. Choosing racing lines, hitting jumps; its all individualistic creative choices that I need to make 100 times a lap.
Bruise 14, oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches
Later in high school, around the same time that I was realizing going pro wasnt going to be an option, my art teacher Jennifer Piconi was telling us about her art school friend Austin Lee, who was having a successful career as an artist. I think this was the first moment I realized I could be an artist. I was so far removed from the art world at that point that it wasn't even something I considered as a real possibility. It was too late to apply to art schools then, so I ended up minoring in Art History during college. After I graduated I immediately started painting and haven't put down the brush since.
suzan and ghost, 2026, archival pigment print, 30"x40"
“Growing up I had dreams of being a professional motocross racer. Every weekend we were at the race track. . . It's here that I learned creative intuition. Choosing racing lines, hitting jumps; its all individualistic creative choices that I need to make 100 times a lap.”
Left: Bruise 12, oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches; Right: Bruise 15, oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches
What are you currently working on and where did the inspiration for it come from?
Right now I'm working on two separate but related bodies of work about the consequences of putting our trust in institutions of power. One is a series of landscapes based on my time in the volcanic region of Hakone japan. When they are finished, they will have silicone rubber panels affixed to the front of the painting. The other is a series of close up paintings of bruises. I feel like these respond back and forth to one another, the landscapes being the action and the bruises being the consequence. The bruises are inspired by injuries I got while racing, and thinking about decisions I made that lead to those injuries. This summer I've also made a bunch of little paintings I call "terrainiums". I manipulate oil paint to make little 3D landscapes, like miniature mountain ranges. They are indirectly inspired by ancient Chinese scholar's stones. Its a way to step back and look at a system as a whole.
Compression, 2026, acrylic, articulating spine model, steel, thermoplastic adhesive, 34x4x3 inches
Innovation does not only happen in the field of technology — it occurs everyday in a creative practice. What do you do for inspiration?
I like trying to find new ways to paint. In the past it was developing ways to create texture by making subtrates to push the paint through, and then removing it with power tools. Right now my work is heavily inspired by Dutch old masters paintings. I am developing ways of dynamically mixing colors using several layers of incredibly thin glazes.
But its also good for me to get out of the studio and activate my brain it other ways. When I ride my motorcycle, I can feel the earth being pushed around underneath my wheels. Its like I'm sculpting all the way around the track.
Left: Innocence Gone, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel,12x8x1 inches; Right: Hoarse, 2026, oil on birch panel, billet aluminum, steel, 12x8x1 inches
Describe your practice and process. Where do ideas start for you? In the studio or being in the world?
Ideas generally come to me at night, right before I fall asleep. I keep a journal next to my bed and an idea for a series of works will just hit me all at once, and then I write it down. They usually sit with me for a few weeks before I decide to start making them or not. I have hundreds of these written down. Its a bit too much but at least I have work to sort through for the next few decades.
Studio view, work in progress
Many artists live by their routines, what does yours look like?
The only real routine I have developed is I work in groups. So I will be actively painting 5-10 paintings at once, so I will work on one layer for each painting in one evening, and then the next week I come back and add the next layer. I like to build up layers instead of painting wet in wet, so my paintings take a long time. This work style allows me to have free time to develop other bodies of work in the meantime while I work on a main focus.
Left: untitled Japan painting, oil on canvas over panel, 18 x 24 inches; Right: untitled Japan painting, oil on canvas over panel, 18 x 24 inches
Who are your biggest influences?
My biggest influences are my lived experiences. Racing motocross, fashion, traveling to new places with my wife. I think getting out into the real world is the only way to bring about new ideas.
Studio view
Studio view, work in progress
Are there books or films that are an important source of inspiration?
Ridley Scott's "Alien" is the most important film ever to me.
Bruise 4, 2026, oil on panel, 8x10 inches
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
You have to make your own luck.
What is the best advice you would give to other artists?
Collect art from other artists if you can afford it.
Stay up to date with Koda Smith
Website kodasmithstudio.com
Instagram @kodasmithstudio