Jacinta Bunnell…a Medal for Honesty
by Jay Blotcher
“Most of it already [makes] certain assumptions about gender, sexual orientation,” she said of the history of children’s books. “We wanted to take something and give it a new spin.”
Line drawings (by the authors and friends) are capped by seemingly simple captions. But look again. An image of children standing at attention, hands over heart, slyly reads, “We pledge allegiance... to all-girl bands, pro choice rallies, witchcraft and female MCs.” A gauntlet has been flung down, in the same way that “Free to Be You and Me” attempted a societal sea change three decades ago.
For seven years, Bunnell has toured the country with her books (the first versions were personally photocopied), doggedly setting up card tables at college seminars, concerts (with her life partner and artistic ally, local musician Michael Truckpile), film festivals and innumerable liberal and leftist grassroots gatherings.
For years, Bunnell was reluctant to lay claim to the title of “artist.” It proved too intimidating a distinction for someone who had never attended art school. She had been content to sporadically create collage pieces from a huge cache of “found, delicious paper” collected since childhood. Bunnell could be counted on to create handcrafted pieces for a friend’s birthday, but not for a gallery wall. Her preferred mode of self-expression was reading and writing.
However, a 2005 snow tubing accident in Saugerties changed that. Bunnell suffered a concussion and damage to her eye muscles. For several months, curling up with a book resulted in severe migraines. Bunnell discovered that neither painting nor drawing aggravated her condition. CONTINUE...
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