Noelle Africh was born in 1992 in Chicago, IL. They hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Actuarial Science from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and will receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from SAIC in May of 2022. While studying math, painting became an important practice for Noelle when they began to question how risk can inform aesthetic decision making — a question they are still exploring in their work today. Noelle’s materially diverse practice places heavy emphasis on the process of making. They often rely on body intelligence and unconventional application methods and tools to inform their decisions. Noelle’s practice creates space for doubt, play, failure, ambiguity and contradiction. Noelle is the recipient of the SAIC Dean’s Scholarship and the Muriel Stieglitz Memorial Scholarship. Noelle’s work has been exhibited in Chicago and will be exhibited in Bonn, Germany in the Summer of 2022.