Visual Arts
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Studio Sessions: June T. Sanders
Part of the Rituals in Resistance show at Railspur, June T. Sanders reflects on the power of creating art, crafting things with her hands, and the moments that spark creativity.
By Rachel Gallaher-Zenz November 5, 2026
There’s a bare authenticity to artist June T. Sanders’ work. Whether it’s a series of black-and-white photographs taken close-up of friends and acquaintances or a suite of rough-hewn wooden objects, each piece feels relatable and grounded in daily life. It’s the kind of work that reminds us that everything doesn’t have to be so abstract or high-level. Sometimes it’s the everyday moments—rest after a long day at work, a moment in the afternoon sun—that are the most profound.
Sanders—an assistant professor in the digital technology and culture program at Washington State University and cofounder of experimental publishing platform From Here On Out—is part of Rituals in Resistance at RailSpur Studios in Pioneer Square. Presented by Forest for the Trees in partnership with I Am Love (a project started in 2026 by artist and curator Tom Manzanarez), the group exhibition, according to its official description, features “work from PNW queer artists showcasing the resilience in collective strength and radical spirit.”
There are more than a dozen artists participating across a range of disciplines, from photography to sculpture to mixed-media works.
“I expect that people can expect a wide interpretation of that theme and some intimate, surprising, and challenging forms,” Sanders notes. “In the show I have a couple of large-scale text banners, a few sculptural pieces, and one wall piece—all of which are made from found wood, ink, and fabric and were made from my time in a monastery in rural Idaho, a farmhouse in North Carolina, and my time at Rockland Woods artist residency on the Olympic Peninsula.”
Rituals in Resistance runs through November 30 at RailSpur Studios.
Name
June T. Sanders
Hometown
Kennewick, WA
Discipline
Sculpture, photography
Favorite Spot in Seattle
Describe your work in three words.
Desperate. Pious. Provincial.
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I’m not even sure I am one now. But maybe it was a summer when I was young in the Montana woods behind my family’s house. Day after day after day, all day, I redirected the flow of the creek with digging and sticks until it was a shape that I liked. I knew something was off then.
Where do you find inspiration?
On the back roads. The dirt roads. Abandoned houses. Deer in the fields. God. Transexual desire. Small towns and vernacular craft. The way light shines through a window. Love in all its forms. Deep friendships. Handmade homes. Mania. A good apple. Crazy women.
What are you working on now?
My mental health, mostly.
What draws you to your particular medium?
Sculpture is haptic and intuitive and manic for me—and there are endless salvageable materials around me to work with. Photography is intimate and indelible and serves as an archive of the people in my life. Both bring me closer to the world.
Tell us about your proudest moment as an artist.
I don’t have a moment, but I feel most proud when someone is brought to tears through my work.
Share one piece of advice you wish you knew when you were first starting out.
To not take practical advice and to not adhere to art world standards. Be a freak; it will get you further.
Define success on your terms.
Success for me is when I and the places and people I love are expanded by what I do. When a new feeling is produced. When a mythology is present.
What do you still hope to accomplish?
In life or love or art? Either way I hope to know what it means to find the edges.
If you weren’t making art, what would you be doing?
Carpentry, mechanics, and getting into a lot more trouble than I already do.
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