ARTIST STATEMENT
I create portrait paintings and ceramic figures of my Queer community so they can see themselves in history. By centering Queer bodies in my practice, I create a corrective narrative that celebrates my community as resilient, strong, and beautiful. The figures I create actively expand rigid notions of gender and sexuality, offering an embodied vision of a gender-full future—one that embraces fluidity, multiplicity, and self-determination.
BIO
Brad Silk is a portrait and figure artist based in Taylors, SC. They have been accepted as MFA Candidate beginning Fall 2026 at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN. They were awarded the 2024 SC Arts Commission Emerging Artist Grant for ceramic portrait builds as well as the Chico Arts Pastel 2022 Award, Susquehanna University 12th Annual Figurative Drawing and Painting Exhibition 2021 Prize, and Artisphere’s Artists of the Upstate 2021 Award. Silk has exhibited in museums and galleries such as Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA, Field Projects, New York, NY, Gallery110, Seattle, WA, and Elizabeth Holden Gallery, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC. Whether through art and exhibition or workshops, Silk advocates for the growth and fostering of Queer Communities. They also brought this advocacy to the Community Outreach role of the NYC-based wellness collective, Queer Anga, where they organized the 2019 Pride event Joy Before the Rage, 2020 Online Pride events, and led a Guided Drawing Lesson for NY Harbor Veteran’s Pride in 2021.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
June 2026
QUEERFEST: Queer Arts Initiative Member Show. Good Art Co, Greenville, SC
April 2026
Within. Metropolitan Art Council. Greenville, SC
January 2026
Between Us. Elizabeth Holden Gallery, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC
July 2025
Daydreamers & Other Nightmares. Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Greenville, SC
December 2024
Small Works. Thornback Gallery, Greenville, SC
September 2024
Found Family. Thompson Gallery of Art, Furman University, Greenville, SC
Saturated. Thornback Gallery, Greenville, SC
Figures + Faces Good Art, Greenville, SC
July 2024
Surprised by Joy. Devinci House at Grand Bohemian Lodge, Greenville, SC
June 2024
QAI@Modal. Modal, Greenville, SC
May 2024
Artists of the Upstate. Artisphere, Greenville, SC
February 2024
Triple C Jubilee. Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Greenville, SC
June 2023
Rainbow. Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Yarmouth, MA
QUEERwork. Silver Mine, New Canaan, CT
March 2023
Overlook. Dogwood Gallery, Smithville, TN
July 2022
Drawing In All Medium. Site: Brooklyn, Online
November 2021
Face to Face. Site:Brooklyn, Online
Luminosity. B Extraordinaire Gallery, Online
September 2021
untitled 2.0. Athens Art Gallery, Crawfordsville, IN
August 2021
ALL ABOUT WOMEN. Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA
Viral Hope. Bitfactory, Denver, CO
All in the Family. Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
July 2021
Copies / Interpretations. LBIF, Long Beach, NJ
June 2021
Real or Imagined. Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA
May 2021
Artists of the Upstate. Artisphere, Greenville, SC
January 2021
Crocker/Kingsley. Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA
November 2020
Your Place at the Table. 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC
Reclaimed, Reimagined. Field Projects, New York, NY