Saint Knox Community15 Images
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Star-studded brows, reptile-scaled cheeks and airbrushed lips – scrolling through Saint Knox’s page feels like cracking open a portal and stepping into a distorted future. The self-taught, Queens-based artist builds entire visual worlds, often directing, shooting and styling her own shoots. It’s what she calls a ‘femme take on the surreal’, working with soft glam and special effects to create her otherworldly designs.
This kind of worldbuilding sits at the centre of Knox’s practice – a fantastical beauty ecosystem built layer by layer with eyeshadow, setting spray, and lip liner, sometimes accented with purple contact lenses, silver face paint, or baby-pink lashes. It’s all held in orbit by her core values of self-expression and pushing beyond comfort zones. Only then, she says, can she fully commit to her warped take on glam: “Surrealism pushes you as an artist to combine your dreams with reality, creating new ideas or worlds. And as an artist, it’s important to push your imagination and express it through your work.”
Growing up in East Baltimore, Knox’s immediate surroundings felt small – but the community around her was anything but. “I learned from the adults and teachers who showed me a positive side of the city, and how the things I dreamt about were actually attainable.” Her earliest beauty memories trace back to family: watching her mum and aunt shape their brows and perfect their make-up routines. Today, her world reaches far beyond, from creating looks for brands like Coach and Mac, to working with JT and Nicki Minaj, and sending Doechii into the swamp for her “Alter Ego” video shoot.
Below, Knox talks building surreal beauty worlds, her beauty icons and the future of beauty.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and where you grew up?
Saint Knox: I started off my career with painting and ventured out to different mediums throughout the years. I attended Baltimore Design School for high school, where I majored in fashion design, and made it a priority to do everything I could creatively – self-expression was and is truly a way of life for me.
I grew up in East Baltimore, which is really small but ironically big on community. There’s so much I learned from the adults and teachers who really showed me the positive side of the city and how the things I dreamt about were actually attainable. The art scene in Baltimore is very lowkey, and growing up there weren’t a lot of places to see art – we only had three museums, which I frequented with the help of family and mentors. Since I was young, I loved to draw, and I loved art class. In middle school, I knew I wanted to attend an art high school to build my portfolio, which I did, and I left Baltimore in 2019 to attend college in New York at The New School.
How did you get into make-up?
Saint Knox: I got into it by being asked by one of my photographer friends to do a glam for one of her shoots. At the time, I was doing oil paintings, and the only MUA experience I had was on myself. I didn’t really have a kit then, so I just brought what I already had at my own disposal. After that shoot, I fell in love with being on set and having my work photographed. I always wanted to be part of the fashion industry but also love what I do, and in that moment, I knew I wanted to pursue being a make-up artist. I loved meeting different people who did other things and just coming together to create as a team.
What are you trying to communicate through your work?
Saint Knox: Throughout my work, there are consistencies of self-expression, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and a femme take on surrealism. I want to communicate these principles because I believe that this is the key to self-discovery and mastering the rules before being able to bend them. Surrealism pushes you as an artist to combine your dreams with reality – creating new ideas or worlds – and it’s important to push your imagination and express it through your work.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Saint Knox: My career highlight so far was definitely working with Doechii for her “Alter Ego” video shoot. That was my first time being on a video shoot set, but also my first time in an actual swamp. It was just really nice working with someone who is so talented – her vision is insane.
Describe your beauty aesthetic in three words.
Saint Knox: Editorial, vixen, industrial.
Which fictional character do you most relate to and why?
Saint Knox: If I was a fictional character, I would be Chroma the Great (The Phantom Tollbooth), because he literally and figuratively lives to fill his world with colour. He uses his sheet music to compose the sunsets and sunrises, and all the colours associated with humanity and nature. As an artist, I feel a strong connection to that – and on the surface level, I literally work with colours all the time, so the parallel is uncanny.
Who is your favourite look of all time?
Saint Knox: My favourite looks of all time are from the Thierry Mugler fashion shows in the 90s (the ones led by Pat McGrath). The looks themselves demonstrate surrealism, while the silhouettes of the garments cater to the theme of the show and the woman walking the show. More specifically, I’m obsessed with the Les Chimères look where they created a winged mermaid creature. The make-up look corresponded with the headpiece, giving a surreal moment. Every detail mattered – down to the eye contacts, the colours used, and the shapes – and that mindset is something I carry with me.
What does beauty mean to you?
Saint Knox: Beauty to me is about having your own personal, unique look – embracing and elevating it. Learning how to highlight your features and own them goes beyond looks. It’s also about your personality and the things that shape who you are. Universally, all things can be considered beautiful because the quality of beauty is subjective, so really, there’s no right or wrong.
Are you optimistic about the future?
Saint Knox: Of course – that’s what pushes me every day. Every new day is considered the future. There’s so much to look forward to, so many days to spend time with the people you love and grow into the person you want to be.
