Christeene Vale, known mononymously as Christeene, is the stage name of Paul Soileau, an American drag queen, performance artist, singer-songwriter and rapper. Christeene is noted for untraditional, "terrorist drag," which features her wearing torn-up clothing, stringy matted black wigs, and heavy and smeared makeup with aims to expose hypocrisy and intolerance.

Early life

Christeene is a character created and performed by Paul Soileau. Paul grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He attended

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

. Following college, he lived in New York City and New Orleans. After

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, Soileau moved to Austin, Texas.

Career

Christeene is Soileau's second drag character, his first being Rebecca Havemeyer, who is similar to Barry Humphries' Dame Edna. "When Christeene came out of me," said Soileau, "I was searching for something that had the action of a switchblade in my pocket -- a character I could really put on quickly, but affect people in a much stronger way. Something strong enough to channel things inside of me that needed to come out -- more aggressive things. When everything aligned properly, Christine 'sic''kind of just appeared. I found the wig and went to town... Both characters speak honestly from within me, but Christeene addresses issues that Rebecca does not. There's a lot of political and social commentary going on. It allows me to try to process and understand me, Paul -- as a queer, a Southern boy. Someone understanding my environment and my own social realms. I can push it out through this Christeene character." Christeene's first public appearance was at ''Camp Camp'', a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

open-mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

show in Austin, Texas. In 2011, Christeene was a resident at the

CentralTrak The University of Texas at Dallas (also referred to as UT Dallas or UTD) is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The University of Texas at Dallas main campus is located in Richardson, Texas. The University of Texas at ...

Artist Residency in Dallas, TX. For his debut album ''Waste Up, Kneez Down'', Christeene started a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign, meeting her goal of $10,000. Christeene contributed to the 2012 art magazine ''Satanica'', which was printed in a limited edition of 350 copies. Other contributors included

Bruce La Bruce Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto. Life and career LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...

and Michael Alig.

Music

Christeene's music videos are made by filmmaker PJ Raval. The final budget for each music video is around $200. For Christeene's first music video, "Fix My Dick", Raval borrowed a camera and they spent "about $20 on baby props from a thrift store." They finished the video in one day. The music video for "African Mayonnaise" was nominated for a SXSW Competition Award in 2012. Paul Soileau was an artist-in-residence in 2012 at CentralTrak. He and PJ Raval developed new work for an experimental collaborative project entitled, "The O.T. (Old Testament)", giving Christeene a brief and much needed vacation.

Artistry

Christeene describes themselves as a

genderqueer Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

"drag terrorist," and is influenced by Jayne County and Bruce LaBruce's use of non- heteronormative gender roles and sexuality. Chelsea Weathers of ''Art Lies'' compared Christeene's "drag terrorism," sexual and racial commentary to Vaginal Davis: "the reflection Christeene offers includes the necessarily unsanitized underbelly of queer experience—the ambiguity of identifying as queer and the anger and humor that is part and parcel of that experience."

Discography

Albums

* ''Waste Up, Kneez Down'' (2012) * ''Basura'' (2018) * ''Midnite Fukk Train'' (2022)

Music videos

Filmography

References

External links

Christeene Vale official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vale, Christeene American rappers American drag queens Living people American non-binary musicians 21st-century American rappers Year of birth missing (living people) Rappers from Austin, Texas Non-binary drag performers LGBT people from Louisiana 21st-century American LGBT people