BY SUZY STUMP for WEEKLY VOLCANO 4/10/26 |
Our artist of the week is Uganda-born, Tacoma-based artist and designer Shalom Aburu who shared the details of her journey with us in this exclusive interview:
Weekly Volcano: What drew you to that DIY approach, and how has that sense of resourcefulness shaped the way you create today?
Shalom Aburu: From a young age, I DIYed a lot of my toys. It was actually very common for kids from families that couldn’t afford toys to just make their own dolls and toy cars. Doing that with the neighborhood kids are some of my fondest childhood memories. Unlike many of my peers who outgrew that tinkering phase, I carried it into my teen years. I loved fashion and pop culture as a teenager but obviously couldn’t afford those cool clothes. I only had access to thrifted clothes. So on weekends, I’d use my allowance money to thrift, then redesign the clothes by making hems shorter, removing sleeves, making cute cutouts. That’s how I learned how sleeves, pant legs, basic skirts, and tops were made. I, however, didn’t consider designing clothes until I moved to America for college. Fashion design isn’t really a respected profession in my home country.
But the moment that changed everything for me was in 2014. I was depressed, homesick, trying to assimilate into the American cultural landscape as a 19 year old, and I found comfort in watching Project Runway episodes on YouTube. One night I was watching season 5, and I saw the most vibrant, beautiful, talented fellow African woman on the show, Korto Momolu. She is a Liberian-born designer. For the first time, I saw a fashion designer on TV that looked like me, worked like me, and created clothes in bold, vibrant colors like me. For the first time, I believed someone like me could become a fashion designer. So when my college announced that there would be a multicultural event and they were looking for students to perform, I decided to make four garments and showcase them on a stage for the first time. I forced my friends to model for me. And that’s when I considered myself a fashion designer, although I would make my first official debut collection two years later.
Being a self-taught designer makes me approach my artistry in a very chaotic but unique way. There are many stages of the typical design process that I skip since I didn’t go to design school. I don’t really do sketches. The concept is all in my imagination. I draw my patterns straight in the fabric without separately drafting them, which I’ve regretted many times. I come up with most of my ideas while fabric shopping instead of having the concept prior. But my ADHD brain loves my chaotic process. It gets me into a flow state and lets my creativity run free.
WV: You work across fashion, mixed-media painting, and film. How do these disciplines inform one another, and what do you learn by moving between them?
SA: Having done many art forms in childhood, like pottery, crochet, basket weaving (I know, very random), musical theater, etc., it was easy to interconnect my artistic disciplines as an adult.
I initially fell in love with painting, photography, and videography when I took college classes. During this time, I was also refining my fashion design abilities. During this learning phase, each discipline stood independently. When I got my first college job as a photographer for the school paper, I looked at my photography and fashion design as two separate versions of myself. It wasn’t until I did my first creative photography project that I saw a similarity in the way I design clothes and the way I photograph. That creative voice is what makes my seemingly unrelated art disciplines feel cohesive.
After doing fashion design for five years, I took a break during lockdown because I was very burned out from doing fashion shows back to back. I decided to start painting for the first time in five years, a way for me to make sense of our new reality during the pandemic. That’s when my mixed-media art style was born. I wanted to portray the many emotions during that period while still maintaining my love for color and texture. So I decided to use the vibrant African textiles I used for my fashion designs. During that time, I also got back into film for the first time since college to document the pandemic “isolation” time.
I’m able to move between my different disciplines because I view them as one. One Shalom tree with many branches. I simply carry my unique artistic voice into everything that I do: color, emotion, and depth. Yes, for marketing reasons, I use titles like “fashion designer” and “painter,” but at the core, I simply view myself as an artist, a creative.
WV: Winning Miss Uganda North America and Miss Africa Washington State brought visibility to your brand. How did those experiences influence your life and career goals now?
SA: Winning the pageants brought visibility to my fashion career by expanding my clientele and getting into many prestigious fashion shows. However, balancing two titles while running a fashion business took such a toll on my mental health and led to burnout, which is why I took a break from the industry. It wasn’t until 2025, when I was performing with my belly dance troupe at a fair, that a photographer, Lilia Ahearn, approached me and asked if she’d photograph me. When I told her that the colorful skirt I was wearing was my design, she asked if I could design a dress for a photoshoot, and the photos were published in Artego Magazine. Coincidentally, around that time, I ran into a colleague at the City of Lakewood that I worked with when I was the 2020 MLK Day keynote speaker, who told me about their upcoming art show. That was the first art show I was part of. And just like that, I was back into the fashion industry and officially got into the art space. But this time I’m moving with more intention and purpose so that I don’t burn out.
WV: What themes are you exploring in your current work, and how do you want viewers to feel when they see it?
SA: Right now I’m expanding my art series from my last exhibition at Lakewood City Hall. I’m exploring the complex emotions and states of mind of women: love, grief, anger, postpartum. I’m hoping to eventually have a solo exhibition sometime this year.
WV: You’re developing film projects? Tell us about that.
SA: During the pandemic, I filmed a series of short videos depicting solitude and the different emotions that that raises during such a period, from peace to loneliness. I’m working on making this concept a film in which we follow the journey of a young person living in our current “loneliness epidemic.” This film will pose the questions, “What is the difference between solitude and loneliness, and how important is human connection?”
WV: You’ve been involved in work that supports youth in Uganda through education and vocational opportunities. What aspect of that makes you most happy? How does that mission show up in your creative projects?
SA: Doing nonprofit work is at the heart of my artistry. Many of the young people we support in Uganda are very skilled and talented. One of our ongoing projects is importing handcrafted items they create, selling them here, and sending all the proceeds to their vocational education. The difference between my artistry and theirs is the visibility I have, and I want to use my spotlight to highlight their talents.
WV: You’ve shown collections at major regional fashion events. What has the response been from Pacific Northwest audiences? Do you hope your work shifts perceptions?
SA: I’ve had such positive responses to my designs. Many people are pleasantly surprised by the vibrant colors of my garments since most people in the PNW don’t wear a lot of color.
I, however, hope to see a shift in the way people see and consume designs created by people of color. Once you pull inspiration from your culture, you are put in a separate category, and the audience fails to view the full scope of your artistry outside that box they put you in. If Alexander McQueen can be seen as mainstream for his bold designs, so can designers of color like myself.
WV: Where can people in Tacoma experience your work next?
SA: I’m currently working as a costume designer for the Starlight and You movie. On April 11th, I’ll be showcasing a collection of starlight-themed dresses at their Single Mingle event promoting the movie. Later in the fall, I’ll have my collection at the Fashion in Flight show at the Museum of Flight.
See more of her work online here: shalomaburu.com
