Jonah Roll was born and raised on a forty-five-foot sailboat, The Flying Walrus, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He grew up surrounded by ocean creatures, sailors, liveaboards, and anchor-outs living in the Alawai Yhat harbor. Influenced by his watery beginnings and his love for nautical lore, his art takes the viewer on a journey to surreal destinations, suffused with imagery embedded in an original and stylized reality.
One of his main projects has been a floating art studio called The Ark in Mission Creek harbor, San Francisco. The Ark is composed of entirely recycled materials and is brightly painted with murals all around the cabin.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in printmaking and painting from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.
Jonah currently lives and paints at Project Artaud, a non-profit artist community, in San Francisco’s Mission District. His pieces have been exhibited in the Jain Marunouchi Gallery, Portland Art Museum, Chroma Arts Gallery, Pope Gallery, as well as many public spaces in the Bay Area. He currently has a gallery in Mill Valley, California.