British/American
The practice of Flying Knight (a.k.a. Jayda Knight) is rooted in a deliberate tension between aesthetic pleasure and intellectual critique. Utilizing what the artist calls a “sweet style with a salty subtext,” the work functions as a visual Trojan Horse. With a degree in both Architecture and Fine Arts from RISD, Knight employs a decorative style—often historically dismissed as merely ornamental—to lure the viewer into a space of comfort before confronting them with the complexities of social and cultural reality.
Knight’s conceptual framework extends into public art through monumental site-specific interventions; exemplified by her 2020 Lincoln Road windows (Miami Beach), where she transformed 24 vacant storefronts with unique wallpaper installations, turning the liminal spaces of the pandemic into a platform for visual storytelling. Her commitment to documenting social histories is further seen in her Seen the Queen? street art collages, which utilize ornamental motifs to honor the drag culture of Miami.
Knight’s work is represented in private and permanent collections, including the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum and the Coral Gables Museum.
Knight has collaborated with several institutions including the Miami City Ballet, Oolite Arts, Lincoln Road Improvement District and Timeout; she is a grant recipient from Gottlieb Foundation and the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs.