Meet Wendy Ortiz | Artist & Craftswoman

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

Hi Wendy, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My friends and family know me to make seemingly rash decisions – ¡a la voz de ya! (which roughly translates to “do it right now!” I make decisions rather quickly and once I’ve made up my mind, I can usually take action right away. I don’t do pros and cons lists. I rarely ask more than one person for their opinion on something I’m contemplating. And I’ve made “no thoughts, just bops” the unofficial slogan of my life (the quote comes from a print from Los Angeles based artist Ruth Mora).

No thoughts is a bit extreme; less intrusive thoughts and less overthinking is a lot more accurate. What some may call reckless decision-making, I call intuitive decision-making, planning, and risk-taking. This type of decision-making allowed me to take one of the biggest risks of my life , which was quitting my full-time job in June 2023 to pursue art full-time and be self-employed. This has single-handedly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself. It has allowed me to live my dream life of taking community college art classes and having the mental energy to be infinitely curious and exploratory with my art.

I wasn’t always able to make decisions this way though, and I in no way want to make it seem like taking the huge risk to quit my job was an overnight decision. If you’re like me and you grew up in an immigrant household, you probably learned not to take drastic risks because we’ve been so conditioned to make decisions based on survival. It’s not a character flaw to avoid taking significant risks; rather, I see it as a consequence of the totality of our past and present circumstances, including systemic oppressions like sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia. There are so many factors that prevent us from living our best lives, and it’s the cumulative nature of these factors that determine how safe we feel in taking big risks. All of this is to say that being fearless and taking risks is an enormous privilege.

If I use my own life as an example, I would say that my ability to take such a huge risk at this point in my life only came as a consequence of years upon years of therapy to understand, and validate my child-self and stop engaging in behaviors that were subtly and not so subtly harming me. In the last 5 years or so, I’ve had to very slowly move through the grief of my childhood, confront losing my intuition to actual reckless behaviors, and come to terms with how much drinking and partying was actually hindering all aspects of my life. It’s one thing to recognize these things in yourself, and it’s quite another to be able to take action and change behaviors towards the life you actually want to be living. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to take the risks that I’m taking now had it not been for the deep emotional work to release my past, and face fear and insecurity on a daily basis with the most faith I could possibly muster. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to take the risks that I’m taking now had it not been for the tangible love and support my sisters and partner provide me with every single day (shoutout Lina Ortiz, Nancy Ortiz, Karla Ortiz, and Ali Bhai!).

Some people grew up being fearless and having built-in protective factors that make them feel safe enough to take big risks. For those of us that didn’t grow up that way, we have to be honest about what’s holding us back and then build those protective factors for ourselves as adults. Whatever that work is is going to look different for everyone, but building the strength and support needed to take big risks is both extremely challenging and rewarding.

My self-employed art journey is a literal baby at this point. I’m still researching, learning, and challenging myself every single day to make this dream life happen for myself. Everyday feels like a series of small and big risks leading me to my most curious and imperfect self. Taking those risks on a daily basis feels like the most liberating, exciting, and overwhelming thing I’ve ever done. When doubt and fear start to creep in, I repeat what my dad would say in times like this, which is, “¡aviéntate!”, or “throw yourself into it!”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Estudio Amada is my new creative project that combines art, fashion, photography, printmaking, and woodworking to create a one of a kind piece of art that you can wear, use, or display in your home. I challenge myself to combine multiple artistic mediums and skills that bring the spooky, dark, ethereal, cultural, and fun visions in my head to life. Most of my creations begin with utility and functionality in mind, but then involve multiple processes that create layered, detailed and intricate utilitarian art. Most recently, I made a series of intricate wood cutting boards and canvas shorts with cyanotype prints of my images because I wanted them for myself. While working on long-term projects, I create items for myself that I can then replicate and share with others who are interested in incorporating these pieces into their wardrobe or their homes.

Creating art for the sake of process is self-satisfying, but ultimately it’s about loving the creative in all of us, and following the good word of curiosity, commitment and imperfection. My art is about creating pieces that are approachable, usable, cultural, and center the arts and the trades as an impactful part of our world.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate this shoutout to my sisters Lina Ortiz, Nancy Ortiz, Karla Ortiz, and my partner Ali Bhai. Their belief in me, my skills, my vision, and my art gives me the confidence to tell mine and our family’s stories with great vulnerability and respect and pushes my own boundaries of what I even thought was possible. Being in relationships with them makes me a better person, sister, partner, and artist.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estudio_amada_/

Image Credits
All images are mine.