We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rae Senarighi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rae, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The You Are Loved campaign has been one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on. It began as a single billboard in Madison, WI, and has spread all over the nation in the form of yard signs and bumper stickers and over 300 grassroots funded billboards. When I made this artwork, I was thinking about all of the trans and LGBTQ+ kids who are watching politicians calling for (and writing laws intended to) eradicate our existence. I wanted to create a message that would give even one person hope. The rates of suicidality in LGBTQ+ youth were already high, but in the past several years as these political threats have grown exponentially, the risk of losing our youth to suicide has also risen drastically.

Seeing so many people say “Yes, I want to help spread this message” and put it up in their yard in Red towns and Blue cities alike. So many people want to say to their neighbors, we love you, we are with you. A message like this, in a window or a yard sign or a giant billboard, can reach people on a deep level. I’ve received such wonderful messages from people telling me they stopped at the side of the road to take a picture of a billboard and suddenly felt less alone in their community.

This is my message to young lgbtq+ folks; we will get through this, you are not alone, in fact, you are loved, I am with you, I am fighting for you. Our history runs deep and we have faced these attacks before and we will likely face them again. But we will not be erased. We are. We exist. We will continue. We will thrive.

Prioritizing art at a time when the world seems so dark can feel selfish and/or hopeless at times. There are times when going to my studio to work on a painting feels like not enough. There is a seemingly endless stream of bad news every day; war in Ukraine, devastating earthquakes, a pandemic that never really went away, train derailments & environmental disaster, mass shootings every day, and for the trans and queer community, an onslaught of over 400 discriminatory bills introduced this year alone.

What possible good can art do in the face of all of this?

Here’s what I know from creating the You Are Loved campaign, which has generated well over $50,000 for FairWisconsin and Gsafe, has spread to over 300 billboards across the nation ALL through grassroots funding, and thousands of yard signs and bumper stickers throughout the U.S. People RESPOND to art. People want to share art. Art can cut through all of the clutter, the rage and the confusion. Art can provide a reprieve. Art can inspire. Art can heal. Art can spread hope.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

As a painter, I create larger than life portraits of transgender, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. I also create floral illustrated typographic messages of LGBTQ+ and trans empowerment and acceptance. I’m a graphic designer and creative director by trade, having also spent nearly a decade as a scientific illustrator working with an international consortium of scientists who are mapping the human epigenome.

I have been an artist my entire life. For as long as I can remember, it’s been the place I can go to where I feel free, and where I can express myself.

My mom was an artist. I remember watching her create these beautiful, detailed portraits when I was a child and learning from her. She died when I was 11, but she instilled in me an understanding of how powerful a little thing like a colored pencil could be. I was lucky to have lots of encouragement of my art at a young age.

When I finally attended art school at the age of 25 I flung myself whole-heartedly into the Graphic Design program at the Art Institute of Seattle and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. When I graduated I ended up getting a job as a scientific illustrator and spent about ten years illustrating cells and organs and diseases and growth charts. Distilling thousands of data points down into easy to understand information graphics. The work was interesting and challenging. Together with school and my newfound commercial art career, I had spent about ten years of my life not really making artwork for ME. Even though it was interesting work, I was only making artwork for other people.

Then, in 2015, I survived cancer and made a commitment to myself that I would create art that I cared about for at least ten minutes per day. I also vowed to myself that whatever art I created would be based in a place of love. It may sound cheesy, but to me, it’s actually been a powerful (and rather difficult at times) guiding principal based in the kind of love that is brave and that is based in action. This led me to begin creating portraits of my community, because I want to see accurate and celebratory representation of us, existing and thriving.

I began making work that I cared about and that was for me and for my community.
Work that didn’t require me to try to sell it to anyone. I wanted to see people like me and like us represented in museum galleries and I want young trans and nonbinary kids to see their futures. I am proud of my visual interpretations of these peoples’ stories. And, to be clear, these are my impressions of just one moment in these beautiful people’s evolving lives.

My portrait series Transcend has been shown in art galleries, museums and universities across the nation in 12 states and over 20 locations. I also created 7 portraits in 2 days for the Netflix short series called First Time I Saw Me, Trans Voices, advocating for more (and better) trans representation in media.

Art and creativity are powerful tools for self-expression. They can also be powerful tools of connection with others.

I know in my life, my art has brought me closer to my community and has provided much strength to me in my most uncertain times. My wish is for everyone to prioritize and embrace their creativity. Even if it’s just for ten minutes a day. And to understand that you are loved and you are worthy of love.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The connections with other people. Whether it’s the parent or grandparent of a trans or nonbinary person, who is supporting their kid and just wants to protect them and help them grow up without discrimination. Or connecting with allies who are fierce supporters, sporting You Are Loved yard signs and bumper stickers, standing up visually for everyone in their neighborhood, on their streets, trying to make the world a slightly kinder place. Or connecting with other trans folks, we recognize each other and see each other with appreciation. It’s pure magic because feeling seen is truly a gift, as anyone who is marginalized for who they are knows. Being SEEN is a gift that you give to yourself, allowing yourself to be truly seen by others. We see each other. We see our shared struggles. Not all of our struggles are shared. As a white, transmasculine person I have a lot of privilege so I try to use whatever leverage I have to speak out for those most marginalized in our community. As Gabrielle Union-Wade recently said, “Black trans people are being targeted, terrorized, and hunted in this country. Every day everywhere. There’s rarely a whisper about it.” Privilege is the ability to be complacent. We have to do more than whisper. We have to use our voices, our talents and our energy to vigorously fight for the rights of ALL of us, not just some of us.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Surviving cancer taught me a lot about my own personal and internal journey with resilience. I am lucky to have survived. I am one of the fortunate ones who got to walk away relatively unscathed from my experience with cancer. I have had too many friends who have had different outcomes. But going through that changed me to the core. It gave me the perspective I think I needed to understand just how precious my time here is. And just how amazing my physical body is. I think I took a lot of things for granted before facing cancer. Now, I know how to slow down in a moment of stress and shift my own internal energy. A lot of that has to do with having a gratitude practice and meditation practice. I say practice because it is a constant state of practice and one that I am definitely imperfect at. But these practices have helped me face my fears and turn towards joy and appreciation of life, even in the midst of really scary adversity. Life is so full of twists and turns and hurdles. Resilience for anyone in a marginalized community is, I think, a daily practice. As a trans person, just surviving, let alone thriving in the face of the onslaught of adversity we are facing is a daily task. For me, I try to recognize the privileges I have and use whatever tools I have to make the world better for those coming after me. To me, resilience is about living life to the fullest even in the midst of adversity. Even in the middle of this constant state of stress, how do you find ways to appreciate what you have and to do what you can for others?

Contact Info:

• Website: transpainter.com
• Instagram: @transpainter
• Facebook: /transpainter

Image Credits
Bruce Fritz photography, Mark Rasdorf, Chelsia Rice, Sean O’Brien