Soap Collins is an American actor, artist and model whose creative practice moves fluidly between painting, film and fashion. Best known for her acclaimed Sad Cat series, exhibited across Los Angeles and New York, she has built a body of work defined by intention, emotion and singularity. Whether painting, storyboarding or stepping into character, scent is never an afterthought but an essential part of her process, a way of marking memory, inhabiting identity and unlocking performance.
As part of C0DE WITHIN, our ongoing exploration of the invisible forces that shape who we are, Soap reflects on the role fragrance plays in her life, the objects that define her, and why Escentric 01 is not really a perfume.
Tell us about your practice.
221.34:50.05:400.00: I'm an oil painter. I started oil painting when I was eleven, and then it was my job for a few years before I graduated from college. And then from there I became a model. And then from there I became an actor. I still paint, but now I primarily paint film posters and make storyboards.
How did you get into something as niche as storyboarding?
221.34:50.05:400.00: I have a really fabulous community of film workers, filmmakers, and actors. A friend of mine directed a short film that my friends and I were in. And then he started working on his feature and asked me to storyboard it.
What is your creative process?
221.34:50.05:400.00: It varies from job to job. I approach modelling in a very technical way. I want to see the references, I want to do my homework, I just want to nail whatever it is that you want to see from me. In acting, it’s something similar, but much more emotional. I do a lot of masochistic training, as a lot of actors do. Depending on what it calls for, you have to study different ways to make yourself experience what it is you’re supposed to look like you’re experiencing. That takes a lot of listening to music. I have fragrances that I’ll wear just for a specific character. I can put something on and step into the character. It’s a very useful tool. And then in painting, it’s more like, “What do I want to see?”
What is your code of conduct?
221.34:50.05:400.00: Make friends. Make friends. Make friends. If I had to work without the possibility of making friends, I wouldn't do it. That's why all the jobs I do are collaborative. I think that was what made it so hard for me to be a full-time oil painter: it was just me, myself, and I.
Do you think identity is fixed, or constantly reacting?
221.34:50.05:400.00: Identity is a constant reaction. It can't be fixed. It's created by your context.
What objects are markers of your identity?
221.34:50.05:400.00: Is it bad if I say my phone? All my friends are in there. I love that place. He's not an item, but it would also be my cat. We are two sides of the same coin. That is my best friend. I love him very much.
What draws you to someone?
221.34:50.05:400.00: I like people who are fundamentally disarming. I think there's nothing more repulsive than pretence. People who are enthusiastically friendly and actively reassuring are the most magnetic people.
Describe your relationship to fragrance.
221.34:50.05:400.00: My relationship to fragrance is so important to me. I am guided through the world, through my sense of smell. My day-to-day is led by fragrance. I need markers in my life, my days, and my places. I need to put pins in everything with smells.
What makes a scent catch your attention?
221.34:50.05:400.00: I know it when I know it. I could list it out in terms of notes, but that wouldn’t be poetic enough and would sound a little too scientific. There’s no surefire way to describe what I need in a scent, but they would all fall within the category of something very thoughtful and intentional, rather than derivative. And those are the words I would also use to describe Escentric Molecules.
Describe Escentric 01.
221.34:50.05:400.00: It's very fresh, but it's warm-fresh. Skin-fresh. And it reminds me of this stationery shop in Los Angeles that I go to. It's actually the oldest stationery shop in all of Los Angeles. They have handmade paper there, and some of it's pressed with flowers or leaves. E01 is kind of like that, a very lived-in, skin-warm smell. I would not describe Escentric 01 as a perfume. Perfume is something entirely different: it is about a hardline idea of smelling good, and while E01 smells good, that's not really what it is about. It is so much more. It's not like you wear it because it smells good; it happens to smell good, but it is also so much more personal and so much more thoughtful. It is not a perfume, it is a mood.
What connects your work to Escentric Molecules?
221.34:50.05:400.00: I admire Escentric Molecules; it is very special. So I would hope that the qualities my work shares with Escentric Molecules are thoughtfulness, intentionality, and singularity.
