Meet Rae Senarighi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rae Senarighi.

Hi Rae, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a fine artist who creates larger than life painted portraiture of the trans and nonbinary community. I am also a commercial artist by trade and I create floral typographic messages of affirmation.

Having spent my childhood watching my mother draw and create art, I always had an interest and love for art. Art was the one place I have always thrived. I pursued my BFA in graphic design at the Art Institute of Seattle and spent the first decade out of school as a scientific illustrator, working with an international consortium of scientists who are mapping the human epigenome. The work was challenging, particularly since I am not a scientist, but it was also incredibly rewarding being able to help these brilliant scientists visualize their complex information. During much of this time, I also worked a second job as a creative director, creating branding and website designs with a firm in Portland, OR.

It wasn’t until I survived cancer in 2015 that I made a commitment to creating art that was for me and not just for a career. Facing an early death truly rocked the foundations of what I knew and allowed me to reassess what I wanted to do with my time here. I am one of the lucky ones who got to survive. And I committed to myself that I would spend at least ten minutes every day making art that I cared about, regardless of whether or not it would sell. This commitment led me to creating the work I do today, which is an effort to create an accurate and celebratory representation of my community in fine art gallery and museum spaces.

For the first year after surviving cancer, I went into my studio for a minimum of ten minutes each day and painted. I created an abstract series of 25 large-scale abstract works and basically meditated on love while painting. It was incredibly healing. I started creating portraits after being commissioned for a mural in which I was hired to paint 6 LTGBTQ leaders throughout history. I made the decision to paint them using only bright rainbow colors for the hair and skin and black paint for the clothing. I enjoyed this process so much that I knew I needed to do more of it. So when the commission was complete, I went back to my art studio with a new focus. I have always loved going to art museums and galleries but realized that I had never simply walked into a portrait gallery in an art museum and seen someone like me. I reached out to some friends of mine and told them my idea of creating rather traditional portraiture of trans and nonbinary people and one of my long-time friends, Acton, was my first portrait subject.

I painted him on wood and cut him out so that I could play around with ideas for the background. I ended up realizing that the trans community is constantly being told to hide ourselves in order to survive. So I decided that the background of the paintings needed to simply be blue sky and clouds to indicate our right to exist outside, in daylight and is an homage to reclaiming space. Since that time, I have created an ongoing and growing series titled Transcend, featuring large-scale portraits of transgender, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people which I have shown in art galleries, universities and museums across the country. I was also hired by Netflix and GLAAD to paint 7 portraits of trans leaders in a short docu-series called First Time I Saw Me: Trans Voices.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Having my art so intertwined with my own existence and with the liberty of my community is challenging, I’m not going to lie. Particularly at this time in history when the political attacks against my community are growing exponentially and have reached a fever pitch, with politicians demonizing us as a way to divide people and drive their base with hate. Fighting against the onslaught of misinformation and deliberate lies is exhausting. Watching as state after state ratchets up their attempts to literally eradicate us from public space is terrifying.

So far this year (and we’re only in the beginning of the year) there are over 400 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bills proliferating across the country. Many of these same politicians are also trying to ban CRT and DEI from public education. These attacks are deliberate and they are based in fear and bigotry.

I think the biggest challenge for me in all of this is to not allow myself to become so overwhelmed that I stop creating. It is also a challenge to remain hopeful. But again, when I survived cancer, I made a commitment to myself that not only would I create art but that what I created would be based from a place of love. At the time, that was coming from a realization that I needed to love myself. However, now, it is a guiding principle that allows me to focus my art on what I WANT to see in the world rather than what I’m fighting against. All of these attacks make me very angry and I definitely feel overwhelmed, sad and helpless much of the time. But then I gather myself and focus on what I want to say to those scared young trans and LGBTQ kids in red states. That is directly where my message of You Are Loved came from. It came out of my anger but was redirected with love to those most vulnerable in my community.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am most well-known for the You Are Loved billboards, which have been on over 300 billboards across the country (all grassroots funded) and my portrait painting series featuring larger than life paintings of trans and nonbinary people.

I am most proud of the grassroots spontaneous nationwide campaign of You Are Loved. We did not have any large corporate funders. All of the billboards have been funded by individuals, many of whom put yard signs in their yards and business windows too, to help further this message. I am humbled to be a part of something so big that has touched and continues to touch so many people. I’ve received countless messages from people thanking me after seeing a billboard or yard sign. So many folks have said they stopped in their cars and cried because they needed that message.

All of my artwork is really about larger story arcs than me and that keeps me going, and keeps me pushing for social justice and change.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
You can never be “off of your path”. Whatever you are doing now is preparing you for the future. Keep going. If you find yourself wanting to do something different but not knowing how to get there, do one small thing that you can do today. Truly, I have only gotten to where I am by small, incremental actions that I’ve taken each day. It can feel overwhelming and out of reach to have a dream but not see the path there. And a lot of times I think we envision that path as being similar to a paved sidewalk that you just go forward to your goal. When in reality, it’s much more complicated and the path is often filled with twists and turns and potholes and rivers to cross. Those are only compounded if you are a person of the global majority, if you have a disability, etc… But take heart. Take one small action each day. And those small actions will begin to add up. Don’t give up. Find the things that feed your soul and carve out time for those things.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.transpainter.com
• Instagram: transpainter
• Facebook: transpainter

Image Credits
Mark Rasdorf, Sean O’Brien, Chelsia Rice