Artist Bio
Phoenix S. Brown is an interdisciplinary artist and musician based in Milwaukee, WI. Originally from Cincinnati, OH, she earned her BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, with a minor in art history. Brown has received recognition through the 2024 Wisconsin Emerging Artist Achievement Award, a 2021 gener8tor Art grant, and has participated in residencies at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati (2021), Yale Norfolk School of Art (2018), and Vermont Studio Center (2024).
Her work has been highlighted in solo exhibitions at Wright Museum of Art in Beloit, WI, and Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, WI. Her paintings and drawings have also been presented at NADA Miami, Other Art Fair Chicago, and Untitled Art Fair Miami Beach. Additionally, her practice has been featured in New American Paintings.
In 2024, Brown completed her first public street mural, Resilient Play, in collaboration with LUNA MKE. Located in Milwaukee's Near West Side, the mural was designed to beautify the neighborhood, encouraging safe driving and street safety.
Brown is an Aquarius Sun, Cancer Moon, and Pisces Rising. In numerology, her lucky number is four.
Artist Statement
Growing up in an urban environment, I learned to fear my surroundings; twilight represented danger, and strangers embodied harm. As I matured, I reclaimed symbols of nighttime and nature through painting and drawing, transforming my fears into empowerment. I create supernatural terrains and spiritual motifs to explore my mental landscape, turning escapist fantasies of being in control of my environment into mystical settings that reflect Black figures and natural symbols. This approach deepens my self-understanding of belonging while resisting the fearful limitations of being seen and emotionally vulnerable.
My abstract approach to making reflects my initial reluctance to disclose my personal narrative. To address this, I depict self-healing through spiritual metaphors and fantasy. Reptiles represent shedding past selves, flowers signify new beginnings, and fire embodies courage and purification. Hands are central to my work, symbolizing control over one’s destiny and anchoring my subjects within surreal, dreamlike lands. By merging these elements with urban symbols—city skylines, bricks, and windows— I create a dialogue between my past and present, blending fear with safety and allure.
The spaces I paint mirror solace and my upbringing at the cusp of the Midwest and Appalachia. This background continues to inform my practice and fosters conversation, allowing those with similar experiences of living in regional cusps to connect with themes of resilience and transformation.
Artmaking clarifies my psyche, and empowers me to reclaim my space, in the studio, and on the streets.
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