Komikka Patton

Komikka “The Yellow Cosmic Seed” Patton

 Patton is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in the United States. Working across drawing, painting, and collage, her practice centers on figuration as a means of exploring embodiment, perception, and relational presence. Through layered, process-driven compositions, she examines how the body operates as both subject and site of inquiry.

Influenced by mythological frameworks and research into consciousness, Patton’s work resists linear narrative, privileging ambiguity, repetition, and material sensitivity as active conceptual forces. Her practice positions art as a space of encounter rather than resolution, where making functions as a sustained investigation into presence, vulnerability, and transformation.

She holds a BFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design and an MFA from New York University.

Educational Background:

MFA in Studio Art, New York University (NYU), New York, New York (May 2018)

NYU Study Abroad Course: Educational and Social Reform, Pretoria, South Africa (Summer of 2017)

BFA in Fine Art, Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), Columbus, Ohio (May 2016)

Graduated Magna Cum Laude

Residency:

McColl Center, Charlotte, NC (Upcoming 2026)

Studio Kura, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan (2024)

Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio, Shinnecock Indian Reservation, Southampton, Long Island, (2023)

Casa-Taller Malaquita, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, (2022)Marcos Chin (Illustrator) Mentorship (2020-2021)

Guttenberg Arts, Guttenberg, New Jersey (2019)

Ne-Na Contemporary Art Space, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2018)

Teaching Experience: 

Instructor of Graduate Studies, Studio Project II, CCAD, (Spring 2021) 

Course Assistant, Marquis Studios, (2018- 2020)

nonprofit organization providing arts education services to more than 170 New York City public schools. 

Instructor of Intro to Printmaking, NYU, (Fall 2019)

Instructor of Printmaking, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, NYC, NY (Summer 2019)

Instructor of Intro to Printmaking, NYU, (2017-2018)

Course Assistant for Noel Anderson, NYU, (Spring of 2017)

Course Assistant for Kiki Smith and Valerie Hammons, NYU, (Fall of 2016)

Selected Group Exhibition History:

(2025)

REVOLT Art Fair Miami Basel, curated by Zindzi Harley and Amy Andrieux,Virtual Gallery, Miami, FL

Constellation: CCAD Scholarship Benefit Exhibition, Beeler Gallery, Columbus, OH

(2024)

Atrium Health Art Gallery, curated by Brian Stepien, 

Atrium Hospital, Charlotte, NC, 

Studio Kura, Studio Kura, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan

Black History Month, curated by Brittany Ora, Mint Museum Randolph, Charlotte, NC

Contemporary African Spirituality In Art,curated by Atim Annette Oton, South Orange Performing Arts Center, South Orange, NJ

Contemporary African Spirituality In Art, curated by Atim Annette Oton, The Walsh Gallery, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ

(2023)

This is America, curated by Fatima Lastee, 5 Point Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

Imagined Futures, curated by Logan Cryer, Zindi Harley, Raul Romero, Teri Scott, and Morris Arboretum, The National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA  

(2022)

Altruista, curated by Komikka Patton Hibrido Santurce, San Juan, PR (Solo)

Voices Of Freedom, curated by Michael Coppage, Kennedy Heights Arts Center Lindner Annex, Cincinnati, OH

(2021)

Can you see me now, curated by Alan Avery, Alan Avery Art Company, Atlanta, GA

Put Your Hands Where I Can See, curated by Cameron Granger, Flux Factory, Queens, NY

Behold, curated by Ivy Jones, Welancora Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

The Mud at Our Feet, curated by Makeda Lewis, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA

WTC 3, curated by Robert Marucci, World Trade Center, NYC, NY

Resurgence, curated by Clayton Calvet, World Trade Center Oculus, NYC, NY

(2020)

Gatekeepers, curated by Fatima Lastee, 5 Point Art Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Solo)

This Is America, curated by Fatima Laster, 5 Point Art Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

GateKeepers, curated by Amy Andrieux, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan (Digital)NYC, New York (Solo)

We Are Here, curated by Christy O’Connor, BSB Gallery, Trenton, New Jersey 

(2019)

 The Present is Trans, curated by Nairobi Marie, Langston Hughes House, Harlem, New York 

Made Here, curated by Matt Barteluce and Russ Spitkovsky, Guttenberg Arts, Guttenberg, New Jersey

Temple of Sirus, curated by Malachi Lily, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Divine Mother, curated by Anita Warren and Rob Fields, Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, NYC, New York (Solo) 

Vox XV, curated by Michael Clemmons and Vashti DuBois, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Fruits Of Our Labor, curated by Amy Andrieux, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art House, Governor’s Island, NYC, New York

Ever Upward, curated by Sean Fuller and Monica Bill Hughes, Collar Works Art Space, Troy, New York 

(2018)

In The Center of The Storm, Ne’-Na Contemporary Art Space, Chiang Mai, Thailand, (Solo)

New York University, NYU MFA Exhibition, Artwork featured in 80WSE Gallery 

(2017)

 New York University, NYU MFA 1st Year Exhibition, Artwork featured in 80WSE Gallery 

jux*ta*po*si*tion, curated by Lonnie Woods III, Artwork featured in Rosenberg Gallery 

Print Fest, curated by Constanza Valenzuela, Artwork featured in the International Print Center of New York 

(2016)

Art of Illustration Show, curated by at Sean-Christopher Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

Senior Thesis Exhibition, in Acock Gallery, Columbus, Ohio (Solo)

(2015)

Silhouettes: A Love Supreme, curated by David Butler, Artwork featured in Elijah Pierce Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

Publication History;  

UPWARD’S Quarterly Autumn 2024, February 19, 2025, Interview, https://upwardgallery.com/magazines/upwards-quarterly-autumn-2024

Moya Magazine Issue 2, December 10, 2024 Channels of Communication https://moyamagazine.com/volume2-issue2

The Mud At Our Feet at Swan Coach House, Atlanta, Burnaway, September 21, 2021 https://burnaway.org/daily/the-mud-at-our-feet/

Two Artist Evoke Celestial, Inner Realms At Swan Coach House Gallery, Arts ATL, September 13, 2021, https://www.artsatl.org/review-two-artists-evoke-celestial-inner-realms-at-swan-coach-house-gallery/

Aboard the mothership of artist Komikka “Martian” Patton, The Microscopic Giant, February 15, 2021, http://themicrogiant.com/aboard-the-mothership-of-artist-komikka-martian-patton/

Oye Drum Magazine Volume 2, July 16, 2020

“'This is America' Addresses Our Troubled Time” Shepherd Express July 14, 2020, https://shepherdexpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/visual-art/this-is-america-addresses-our-troubled-time

Taji Mag Volume 22, March 7, 2020

Friend of The Artist Volume 9, FOA May 28, 2019

“Intellectual Rigor and Emotional Intensity in NYU MFA Thesis Show” Hyperallergic Media Inc. May 21, 2018. /hyperallergic.com/443547/2018-nyu-mfa-thesis-show-80wse-gallery/

Botticelli Magazine Issue 8, Issuu Inc. December 3, 2015. 

Awards, Grants, and Honors; 

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Finalist (2020) 

Silent Partners Grant (2020)

Darryl Chappell Foundation Grant (2020)

Nominated/ Museum of Art and Design Fellowship (2018)

Martin Wong Scholarship (2017)

May and Samuel Rudin Foundation Scholarship (2017)

Winner of Lowell Tolstedt DRAWING PRIZE (2014)