In our newest interview series, we introduce you to the people who inspire us most: creatives, educators, activists, community leaders and the everyday super-humans who keep us on our toes. We’ll take you inside their day-to-day lives, homes and workspaces. We’ll talk motivation and inspiration and of course, all things style.
Meet our December Monthly Muse: Salomée “Chroma” Souag, a Swiss-born artist and graphic designer who left her mark on the streets of Portland in response to the ongoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. A mark that catapulted her into a world of art activism and youth mentorship within Black, Indigenous and People-of-Color (BIPOC) communities.
When we spoke to Salomée, it was the day after the U.S. presidential election and a few months since she’d been let go from her agency gig. Unphased and driven by the purest passions, her pivot from corporate life to full-time activist is one to be applauded. Read on to learn more about Salomée in her own words.
We should all be proud to wake up every morning and do this work. Just getting up right now seems like enough.
It's the day after the election. Where are you—mentally and physically?
Every morning I’m waking up to feelings of anxiety and I check the news, and every morning it’s the same. But I think we should all be proud to wake up every morning and do this work. Just getting up right now seems like enough.
I have done a lot of work to empower Black, Brown, and Indigenous people to use their voices to vote. I am not a US citizen and I can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not part of this democracy. I can still use my voice for change. Even with the presidential results, there is still so much work for all of us to do. This is only the beginning.
You’re very proudly Swiss, Peruvian, Algerian and queer. How does your identity shape your work?
I think all of that, plus being an immigrant I would add, shaped everything. It taught me to have empathy. It taught me to see from the outside, because I was an outsider in a lot of ways. I want to create work for those people who feel like they are different so they can visualize how powerful their differences are. When I moved to America, I didn't know any English. So I was drawn to art and colors and shapes and that’s how I learned to communicate what I felt. That's how it all started for me. It was like therapy for me, as well.
Everything I do now is to inspire people to live in opposition of what I went through. I was so silenced. I had to pretend that I wasn't who I was—I wanted to change my name. I would straighten my hair every day. Try to get rid of my accent. I wanted to hide everything about me that was different. I hated that I couldn't fit in the census box, but now that’s everything that I'm about, you know? And I want to embrace all those things about me I used to hide. It’s a complete turnaround and all the work I do is about taking up and reclaiming space.
It’s fun to play and experiment [with gender] through fashion.
And how does your identity influence your style?
First of all, it's the hair. It’s super big and I'm very chaotic and messy in everything I do. I don't wear makeup much and I let my hair be natural—whatever it feels like doing that day, it does. I'm not a girly girl. I don't get my nails done and don’t do any of that self care stuff. I'd rather work all night painting, you know?
I like things baggy. I like blazer vests but also feminine tops—I really like to play with my gender in that way, keep it very fluid. It’s fun to play and experiment through fashion. And I love jewelry. I have a lot of jewelry. I wear my mom’s all the time and a necklace my dad brought from Algeria. I try to combine the pieces of my identity, things passed down through generations with who I am now, like oversized hoodies.
It’s the same with my art. My wheat-pasted posters are more masculine while my mural work is focused on powerful feminine identifying bodies. There are no rules in this world, we build our own reality so I experiment with my own world through fashion and art.
What got you into activism?
I think I was 19. And then I did a march about three years ago here in Portland. The Proud Boys came and it was the first time I was introduced to that kind of scene. I’ve always been a part of Pride as well, and you meet people who invite you to more things. Initially, it was just about being there as a body but then I started creating. There was all this graffiti on the Justice Center and the news was blaming the protests for the mess. I had to help prove this is not who we are. So I started to create all these design posters.
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At first it was just me, literally alone doing this stuff, which is funny because now I’m being commissioned for big-scale installation pieces. It was just me and my little backpack going to marches, wheat-pasting them everywhere, putting them on Black-owned businesses so people wouldn't break them. And I realized how powerful this language can be and that it could help heal and create community.
I'm not here to create just for the hell of it. It has to have a purpose, a mission.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
I think it all comes from the same thing: Fighting for a better future. For me, that means inspiring younger generations. My inspiration right now is to build a community through design, through art. I worked on a project to create awareness around depression. I raised money for Expression Against Oppression, a project to fund BIPOC artist commissions throughout downtown PDX. I want to elevate Black and Brown voices right now; create change; simply make people question their own roles and lifestyles, inspiring them to do that work, as well.
Physically being there, at the marches and protests, seeing the people, hearing the speeches, really listening to their stories and taking the time to listen—all of that is very important to me when I create. I'm not here to create just for the hell of it. It has to have a purpose, a mission. Hopefully people feel that through the work I'm creating. Free public art is the future, and I want to use this time to educate, create, and inspire.
How do I stay inspired? Because I have to. It's my oxygen. We have to keep creating, to keep the momentum up so people realize that this is not a trend.
How are you staying inspired throughout the pandemic?
How do I stay inspired? Because I have to. It's my oxygen. These things I create are pouring out of me. I have no idea how. I think it's because the passion and the right intentions are there, deep within. I also feel a lot of pressure to do this work as a person of color, with the privilege that I have. It's my duty to do this work and put myself in these positions. Death threats and all. We have to keep creating, to keep the momentum up so people realize that this is not a trend.
