Meet NUNUM's Contributor: Rachel Coyne

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Rachel Coyne

What was the first book you remember picking and reading yourself?

Little Rabbit’s Lost Tooth. It had all these cozy interiors in a little rabbit house. 

What was the last book you read that made you say damn, that was a good book?

I read a ton of vintage cookbooks. Recently I found a lot of gems in Amberwaves: A Cookbook from the Junior League of Omaha, Nebraska (1983).

Which artists have influenced your current artistic direction?

​Pacita Abad - the color and the scale. Iia Susiraja - the fierceness and the courage. Judy Chicago. Yayoi Kusama.

Is there an artist in your local community that you would recommend people check out?

Ta-coumba Aiken.

What advice would you give someone just starting to send their work to journals?

Don't take things personally.

Are you a full-time artist? 

I have tons of other jobs. But I like to think of myself as a full-time artist. Something exciting and inspiring is always around the next corner. I started doodling the images published here in a board meeting. Even when I don’t have time to paint, art adds so much to my day. 

Do you think about your audience when you paint?
​
No. I’ve spent so much of my life being a “good girl.” Painting is where I get to do whatever I want. If someone doesn’t like it, they can look away. 

Do current events affect your work?

​God, yes, even working abstractly. I’m so angry, and you can see it in the work - the drama and the tension. 

Artist's Statement

Color is really what has drawn me to painting. I like bright yellows and rich reds. And I have a thing for blue. 

These images came to me naturally. I like the mystery of them. You can imagine them as small as cells or as large as galaxies. They reflect the natural world without mimicking it. I like the call to speculate and consider. 

Rachel Coyne is a writer and painter from Lindstrom, MN. 

Current Issue

Submissions

Consultation