Paul-Sebastian Japaz (b. 1992) is a painter who lives and works in New York. He graduated with a BFA in fine art from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2017 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2022 and the Palazzo Monti artist residency in 2024. Working mainly in oil on canvas, linen and panel, he paints rooms, windows, kitchens, plants and figures, approaching space as something that holds power and shapes behavior. His work considers queer identity in the context of everyday life, treating environments as a theoretical material that creates distance between the work and the viewer, inspiring stillness and curiosity. He has observed that positive space is a resource, and often a privilege afforded to those in power. His work has appeared in group exhibitions at Timothy Taylor and The Hole in New York and The Reef in Los Angeles. He is a visiting assistant professor at Pratt Institute.
