Salma Vir-Banks

Queen of Jupiter

Acrylic on canvas

From the Iconoclast Series

"This is a self portrait I painted in my 7th year of addiction recovery. I created this portrait as a personal mile marker to celebrate the growth and transformation I had achieved. This portrait is also meant to be a visual roadmap to my best, most confident self."

Salma Vir-Banks

About the artist

Salma Vir-Banks

Salma Vir (she/they) is an intermodal Afro-surrealist and abstractionist artist of the African and South Asian (Punjabi) diasporas. Salma’s chosen mediums include painting, movement and dance, jewelry design, installation, digital art, tattooing and body markings, and expressive makeup artistry. Salma’s primary vision is to utilize art as a vehicle for collective/individual healing from the pervasive influence of harmful and marginalizing social constructs. Salma’s work is always a conversation between resilience, mythology, iconography, trauma, ritual, and the surreal realities marginalized people must occupy and contend with. Juxtaposition is a common element in Salma’s work, offering contrasting depictions of sacredness, ceremony, and power.

At a young age Salma’s relationship with dance and movement was realized as an innate and natural talent - a kind of first language. As a recovering addict, self-mutilator and bulimic, dance has allowed Salma to reclaim and reconnect with her body in ways that are no longer mired in self-destruction and exploitation. Dance has aided Salma in transmuting her tremendous personal power into vibrant expressions of depth and fortitude. In addition to dance, young Salma readily explored her abilities with various other art media and creative languages. All of her chosen modalities interweave to form intricate representations of her own lived experiences as an Afro-Punjabi woman dealing with personal restoration and reclaiming personal mythology and archetypes. The intention of all her work is to help othered others do the same.

In 2022, Salma finally released Meridian Ink, a healing project 7 years in the making. Meridian Ink explores the healing potential of body markings in the form of tattoos. Previously known as Tattoos and Tarot, Meridian Ink is Salma’s alternative answer to a somatic based ecotherapy and art therapy practice, utilizing biomimicry, tattooing, social justice based wellness, acupressure, and art.

Salma is currently pursuing a double masters in art therapy and counseling and holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies and Global Poverty from the University of California, Berkeley. To date Salma has exhibited work at Townsend Gallery, California Museum of Folk Art, California African American Museum, USC Pacific Asia Museum, Holocaust Museum, The Armory, (Los Angeles); United States Capitol Building (Washington D.C.); Revolt Gallery, Parseco Gallery, Stables Gallery, Encore Gallery, Taos Museum (Taos, New Mexico).

To hear part of Salma’s addiction recovery story listen to her guest appearance on the MannMukti Podcast - a platform dedicated to encouraging safe and open dialogue around mental illness and wellness in South Asian communities.