Zoe Karaca is a New York–based figurative artist working primarily in compressed charcoal on paper. Drawing from direct observation in live model sessions, her work focuses on capturing fleeting gestures and moments of human presence through minimal, expressive marks.
Her practice centers on the immediacy of drawing - responding to the living body in time, where each mark records a moment of attention, movement, and presence.
Karaca has been studying at the Art Students League of New York for the past two years and is a two-time recipient of the Red Dot Award from the League’s Student Salon. Her work has been presented in group exhibitions in New York, Florence, London, and Milan, with solo exhibitions in Florence and Cannes.
Zoe Karaca
Artist Statement
My work centers on the human figure, drawn directly from life. In each encounter I look for the subtle vitality that moves through the body — a pulse that reveals itself in gesture, posture, and fleeting expression.
Charcoal serves this search. Once living wood, it passed through fire before becoming a drawing material, carrying the quiet residue of transformation. Under the movement of my hand, the mark deepens or fades, drifting across the paper like breath or smoke.
In these drawings, the line follows a pulse, leaving behind the trace of a moment briefly alive.