Shan Graf

Shan Graf is a painter born and raised in Billings, Montana, whose work examines the instability of identity, memory, and emotion through queerness and personal reflection. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing, with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, from Montana State University in May 2025. Working primarily in oil, Graf blends impressionism and realism to create psychologically charged spaces where interior and exterior selves overlap, using vibrant color to convey emotional depth and layered perception.

Graf’s work draws from experiences of growing up in Montana, mental health, and political tension, examining how personal histories intersect with broader social narratives. He got into painting as a form of escapism and reflection. Influenced by theorists such as Judith Butler, they view painting as a performative act—one that resists fixed definitions and embraces fluidity, transformation, and self-construction.

Graf has exhibited extensively across the United States, including solo shows at Ghost Town Coffee Roasters, Zócolo Coffee House, and Cowboy Coffee Co. in Montana. Their work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, such as Transgression Transaction at Kirk’s Grocery in Billings, In-tension at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery in Bozeman, Diverge at Electric Storm Gallery, Freelancers Union Art Show in Brooklyn, New York, and Insects and Their Environment at the College of Design Gallery in Ames, Iowa.

Through painterly experimentation and conceptual inquiry, Graf seeks to create work that reflects the complexities of identity while inviting viewers to locate their own emotional truths within the painted image.

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