OAK (he/they) is a polymath artist based in Chicago, IL.
Their multi-disciplinary practice welds language as a medium, sharpened through the tools of vernacular photography, the body as a living archive, sound and speech, clay body, works on paper and performance.
By drawing on the tradition of Black Indigenous linguistic practices that use language to convey messages of hope, resistance, and resilience in the face of captivity, OAK's exploration of the uses of language within in the Black community serves as a form of fugitive repair and spell-casting during cycles of censorship, state terror, and uprising.
OAK is a 2024-26 Chicago Artists Coalition Artist in Residence and a visiting lecturer at Stonybrook University.
Headshot: Lauren Crew
Image: It Don't Cracc!!, 2024, sumi ink on multi media paper, 9 x 12 inches
(updated 2025)
CAC Residency
