"In Image Virus, Lahah examines the climate realities
surrounding Lethal Bronzing Disease (LBD) : a fatal and
communicable bacterial illness affecting palm trees across the
U.S. Spread by minuscule pierce-sucking insects like palm
cixiids, LBD becomes a lens through which Lahah interrogates
the broader implications of communicable disease, image
production, and ecological collapse.
Through an interdisciplinary approach combining research, print
media, and craft-based installation, Image Virus draws striking
parallels between the ecological phenomena of LBD and the
cultural and industrial systems that shape our contemporary
moment. Lahah reveals how nature and humanity mirror one
another through the entanglements of image, disease, and
material production."
Jake Lahah (b. Wildwood, NJ) is based in Richmond, VA,
where he works as an artist, educator, and researcher. His
practice centers on themes of labor, queerness, ecology, and the
role of visual culture as testimony to the human condition.
Working across installation, printmedia, and craft
methodologies, Lahah’s work has been exhibited at institutions
including ICA Baltimore (MD), IA&A at Hillyer
(Washington, D.C.), Temple Contemporary (PA), Vox Populi
(PA), and ADA Gallery (VA).
He currently serves as Assistant Adjunct Professor in the
Foundations and Drawing/Painting Department at Old
Dominion University. Lahah holds a BFA from George
Mason University (2017) and an MFA in Print from Tyler
School of Art + Architecture (2024). He is also a recipient of
the Gay Cultural Studies Creative Research Grant from the
Department of Women and Gender Studies at ODU. In 2024 he
was a resident artist at Zygote Press (OH) and will begin the
Studio Access Residency at VisArts in Richmond, Virginia
this coming Winter.
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