BIO

SILENT FOX is a Minnesota-based visual artist, graphic designer, and muralist whose practice spans multiple media, including watercolor, acrylic, digital illustration, and photography. A graduate of Augsburg University with a BA in studio arts and graphic design, they have established themselves as a versatile creator under the banner of Silentfox.Studio. Their work has been recognized through MSAB grants in both 2021 and 2022, supporting their community-focused artistic practice. As a lead director and creative curator of 13.4 Collective and member of Creatives After Curfew, Their artistic philosophy, reflected in their chosen name, emphasizes the power of reflection and meaningful exploration in contemporary art-making.

Artist Statement

Silent Fox is an interdisciplinary artist using graphic design and visual art to create an ambient experience when exploring their art. Silent began creating and drawing as a child. Inspired by their favorite cartoon character, they would draw in the margins of their school notebooks. Silent would draw so frequently that friends and family encouraged them to pursue a career as an artist. This encouragement led them to begin an education and career in the arts. They hold a BA in Studio Arts and Graphic Design from Augsburg University. In 2018, they renamed themself 'Silent Fox', which comes from their belief that silence allows one to reflect on today's world and creates a journey to discover what it means to be alive. Their creative practice includes works of drawing, painting, graphic design, and digital illustration. Within their art journey, Silent is always learning and adding new techniques to their practice, in the hope that it brings another layer of storytelling to the experiences. Fox merges each medium to create an Interdisciplinary art practice. 

Silent Fox approaches their practice with curiosity and openness. They see making art as an opportunity to learn and build a new foundation from that knowledge. Taking this concept, Silent creates a universe that they hope viewers can dive into. This is done by exploring different forms of art, such as painting, drawing, and digital works, to create individual worlds in a universe they often dream about. Silent looks at each form of art as a different piece of themselves, which helps them continue to create even when feeling stuck in life. Each body of work began by exploring what is considered socially acceptable and rejecting it to create what they hope to see. 

Silent finds comfort in tackling challenging topics through an imaginative process that allows for world-building. Silent often incorporates bold colors in both simple and dynamic pieces. The use of bold colors is designed to draw the viewer's eyes in and evoke strong emotions. While referencing animated characters, stories, and pop culture, they hope to create work that invites the viewer to look closer to understand the messages behind each piece fully. On the surface level, Silent’s work appears to be bright and fun; The Irony is that most of the artwork Silent creates reflects on tough topics such as community issues, social events, and challenges from life experiences. The cartoon characters and stylized drawings of figures bring care and comfort to challenging social topics we face, as those are what brought them comfort in their early years.

Both knowing and not knowing provide Silent a starting point in the process of developing their artworks. Each piece starts with a sketch and some vague idea about the topic. Later on, Silent takes the time to learn and research the idea, to hopefully understand where the art piece is moving. Society has a lot of problems. Silent uses art as a gateway to understanding and processing them all. At the start of every line, sketch, and brush stroke, Silent’s goal is to create an experience that constructs a space where everyone can go on a journey together. Being an Interdisciplinary artist, Silent is making art that brings their hopes for the universe that doesn’t feel attainable in each body of work. One of their goals as artist is to find new creative ways to explore and share their artwork. To re-imagine the world we live in, A place where dreams are no longer just imagined, but tangible and within reach. Their inspirations include Cai Guo-Qiang, Hayao Miyazaki, Hebru Brantley, and Kayla Mahaffey.

Design Statement

In their practice, Silent uses design to make a statement and create a visually appealing graphic that grabs an audience to take action on what messages are being addressed. The design takes information that can come off as overwhelming and shares that same information in a manageable format. As they have been improving and creating designs for their community, including themselves, they began the lack of opportunity for both consumers and designers. They want their design to be used as a tool that amplifies voices, hopes, and dreams. Silent's goal as a designer is to create a platform that can be used as a resource to share one's story, history, and thoughts on topics that put a spark in their eyes. A spark that creates change and inspires others to believe in the voice. Through Design, They hope to create opportunities for members within their communities who need the support that feels rarely available.

-Silent Fox 🦊