Salem Smith

Art became a refuge during his experience with gender dysphoria, helping him process grief, identity, and isolation. Through ceramics, collage, and illustration, Salem explored both form and emotion, often spending entire school days in the art room.

After high school, he moved to northeastern Florida and launched Soulestial Sorcery in 2022, a small business featuring original characters, zines, prints, and handmade goods. But during his gender transition, he noticed his desire to create had faded. Which was something that once worried him, as his source of inspiration seemed to dry up. In time, he realized it was because he no longer needed art as a survival tool. The inner pain and fear vanished, and with it, the urgency to escape.

In 2025, while working at a coffee shop, he started doodling cup art for customers and friends. He reconnected with that spark, but this time from a place of love. Now, Salem creates not from survival or performance, but from the frequency of love and resonance, as a way to express presence, truth, and connection. Merging the physical and spiritual worlds.