Hudson Valley Mixed Media Artist
ABOUT
Jacinta's visual art is inspired by miniature people and toys, constructed primarily from recycled materials. She learned to draw from children. She has a huge stash of patterned, quirky, superbly alive paper which she has been collecting since childhood. Among the multifarious pieces are: torn wrappings from Groundhog Day celebrations, colored engravings from encyclopedias for babies, pictures of toads and concerned citizen fliers. Jacinta’s work has been shown at Allegheny College Art Galleries, KMOCA, ArtPort, CANO, Opus 40, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, Albany International Airport, Rosendale Cafe, TeamLove Ravenhouse Gallery, Mohonk Mountain House, Wired Gallery, and more.
Jacinta has toured the U.S. and Canada with The Sparkle Kids Action Network, The Gadabout Film Fest, Neko Case, Maeve End, Julie Novak, Irit Reinheimer and Michael Truckpile. She is the author of several books, including The Big Gay Alphabet Coloring Book, Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away With Another Spoon, Latchkey Township and Girls Are Not Chicks. Jacinta is a co-founder of Hudson Valley B.R.A.W.L. (Broads’ Regional Arm Wrestling League), an arm wrestling league for ladies. Her books can be found at the Queerbook Committee, PM Press, and on Etsy.
Whether it is designing seed packets for the Hudson Valley Seed Company, creating overhead projection shows for Neko Case intermissions, art directing music videos for Elizabeth Mitchell, or designing album art for Grammy-winning producer Dean Jones, Jacinta’s art and collaborations touch upon a desire in us to be more closely connected to the tenderness that resides in our hearts. She believes in real handwriting, iced tea, small towns, lip syncing, her mom’s fruitcake and having the same best friend since you are two. She lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley with some coyotes, rabbits, peppermint, old buttons, lilacs, and rhododendron bushes.
SELECTED PRESS
Studio Visit: The Books And Paintings Of Jacinta Bunnell
By Rebecca Mir Grady, 2019
“Anne Elizabeth Moore connected me with Jacinta Bunnell earlier this year, and I’m so glad she did! She makes awesome feminist and queer coloring books for kids and adults of all ages. I truly wish that they had been around when I was a kid.”
Las Niñas Pueden Ser Reyes (Girls Can Be Kings) - A Coloring Book I Wish I'd Had When I Was a Little Kid
By Lee Wind, 2019
“It's inspiring to see how powerful knowing real history that includes woman can be -- the story of Seondeok, told in one book, inspiring Jacinta's Spanish version of this book, and reaching out to all the readers (and colorers) to come! I'm very excited about this coloring book—it's absolutely something I wish I'd had back when I was a little kid!”
Q & A with Artist and Author Jacinta Bunnell
By Rebecca Dolber, 2016
Jacinta Bunnell is an artist and author residing in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her collection of coloring books challenge readers to look differently at long-held notions of gender and sexuality in a way that is as skillful as it is lighthearted. While each book takes on a slightly different theme, they all broach seemingly complex subjects with a "kid lens", reminding us that things are not always as serious as we often make them. With two more books on the horizon, take a peek into how these works came to be and with it, a closer look into the delightful world of Jacinta Bunnell.
Will Work for Love: Jacinta Bunnell
by Keiko Sono, 2013
There is no better proof that art is life, not a profession or commodity, than Jacinta. Her house, her life, her wardrobe, even her friends are all colorful, vibrant, and fun. Her artworks reflect events and pieces of her life, and her life is full of her artistic sensibility. She incorporates works by children in her work; she uses paint samples to create a garland to decorate her house. She even created artworks out of a tragedy. In 2011, the house she and her partner Michael were renting was flooded in Hurricane Irene.
Seed Pack Profile Series: Jacinta Bunnell
By Doug Muller, Hudson Valley Seed Library, 2009
Who puts the culture in agriculture? Artists are part of a sustainable and resilient economy, one that values the contributions of every member of the community. The 16 artists for this year's packs each interpreted one variety of flower, herb, or vegetable from our catalog. They used their individual visions, backgrounds, skills, and talent to create their pack art. The resulting eclectic collection represents the diversity of the seeds we offer and celebrates seeds as cultural treasures. Through this series of posts, we hope you enjoy getting to know each artist a bit better and gain some insight into their creative processes and the many connections between art and agriculture.
How Green is My Gallery? The Art of Recycling and the Recycling of Art
By Jay Blotcher, Catskill Mountain Guide
Jacinta Bunnell recalls her first illustrations in the 1970s were drawn on menus from the Scranton, Pennsylvania country club managed by her father. Whether the resulting work is a painting or a sculpture, the Ulster County-based artist goes out of her way to secure materials that have been utilized and thoughtlessly discarded.
“It’s very essential for me to work with recycled materials,” she said, “because I don’t want to be creating more waste in the world.” Her house is an ad hoc gallery, displaying sunny and sly pieces punctuated by bright colors but also identifiable if unexpected items. A huge collage in the shape of an Indian mandala was fashioned from a discarded piece of wood which has been affixed to the end of an industrial-sized spool used for telephone wire.
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