Meet Wendy Raisanen | artist and curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Wendy Raisanen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Wendy, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Artmaking has been my outlet of expression since I was a kid. I did try other jobs as a younger adult, but they didn’t last, and I was usually bored. I’ve always painted or sewn things, though, and went to Arizona State University to study art, took all the art classes I could, and ended up with a sculpture degree. I just fell into the job working at Scottsdale Arts (then Scottsdale Cultural Council), working part-time, and have worked there for over 30 years, for SMoCA and Public Art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For the last 5 years or so, I’ve been making art quilts. I make bold, bright images of my obsessions with intricately pieced quilts. During the pandemic, I became obsessed with the global shipping industry and how the fragile machine of capitalism exploits cheap labor in the East and ships it to the West, for our momentary shopping happiness. Climate change contributes to bigger storms, and more than 1500 shipping containers a year are lost overboard. The quilts in that series, “Happy Now”, feature images of floating shipping containers in open water, and container ships waiting in formation at the port of Los Angeles.
Then I did a series of pieces about empowering mid-life sexuality, called Slutlife, to change stigma and reclaim the word “slut” as a statement of empowerment and freedom, rather than shame and control. I showed it at the cooperative gallery, Five15Arts, on Grand Ave. in Phoenix, and had many interesting conversations during the run.
My current/next solo show at Five15 Arts, September 5-28, is called WTF?!, and it’s about the reckoning of authoritarian systems and the anxiety of social media addiction. Some of the quilts are sewn together with paintings. It’s all fires, floods, shipping containers, and the special two or three-word language of social media.
While I was at ASU, I exhibited my artwork a lot, and then life happened, I got married, and didn’t devote much time to my own artwork. After that dissolved I found my artwork again and committed to it. Worked on it all the time. It’s been hard but satisfying, finding my voice. Funny, but while I was at ASU, I rejected sewing (which I had done all my life) as an art form, working with bronze, steel, neon, and plaster instead. Now here I am back at the sewing machine, but making art on it, rather than clothing.
The best advice I can think of for artists is to just keep making art, keep being curious, keep learning. Because you’re learning about yourself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
OK bestie, let’s go to AZ88 for lunch, then Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and take some time to experience the James Turrell Skyspace at dusk.
Day 2- Phoenix Art Museum to see the art and especially the costume/fashion exhibitions, Cornish Pasty shop (as good as my Nana used to make,) then see more art at third Friday downtown at Modified, Eye Lounge, and Five 15 Gallery. Dinner at Bacanora.
Day 3- Movies at Cine Capri/Fashion Square. Lunch at Sauce. Then swimming and champagne at the Valley Ho.
Day 4 and 5, As long as we’re imagining the best time ever, let’s go up to Flagstaff, and visit James Turrell’s Roden Crater for an entire day and night. Minds will be blown. We’ll remember where we are in the universe. Breakfast at Macy’s before we head down the hill.
Day 6, Lunch at Worth in Mesa, then Mesa Arts Center and the IDEA museum, because we’re kids at heart.
Day 7. Spa day at Mountain Shadows. I’m exhausted. Let’s have a nap, then room service.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First, my parents. Their support and encouragement for creative thinking and art-making was constant and unwavering. And Jim White, the professor of sculpture at ASU who opened my brain to the possibilities in creating 3D artwork. I had only painted pictures before, and I got a great education in making objects, understanding materials, and how sculpture is put together. That knowledge is integral to my job at Scottsdale Arts, taking care of the public art collection.

Website: https://www.wendyraisanen.com/

Instagram: artczech

Image Credits
Photo credit: Claire A. Warden