First Friday | MACON BUNN | April 5th

 ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

opening reception | 7 – 10p

117 S. West Street | Raleigh, NC 27601

 

Macon began to cultivate her knack for drawing at a young age, using the blank “notes” portion in the bulletin at church as her sketch pad during sermons. At school, if she wasn’t attending an art class, she was drawing in another class’s margins. After getting accepted by UCLA’s art school, she moved from North Carolina to California in order to tan. After graduation, she moved to New York and worked in advertising for a couple of years.  She returned to her roots this past fall, moving back to Raleigh as a full-time artist. 

On most days, you can find her drawing, yoga-ing, or music-ing outside in the sun. She thanks Vintage 21 for the opportunity to show her work, her lovely family for their continued support, and you for coming to see the show. Enjoy!

Connection. It is the thing we humans strive for. That which was necessitated for our beings upon birth. An essential mode for survival, a connection lies between ourselves and everything around us. Essentially, the only thing we need to connect emotionally with another human being on a more intimate level is a lock of the eyes. The eyes tell a great amount about a person. They are a direct pathway to the soul, the spirit, and the workings of the mind.

 The meat of my work lies in drawing large-scale, highly realistic portraits of people. The medium I utilize is paper, scoured over by graphite pencil; rubber for both additions and omissions. The observer’s gaze glides over the contours of the face, noting the slight upward curve at the tip of the lip, the tiny hairs that lace the skin, and the glossy saline catching the light in both eyes. It is powerful to experience a person’s presence on such a large scale; being given full permission to look upon their beauty in this personal way. You host a silent conversation with them, learning the extent of their history, judging their personality, and feeling out their energy. 

 My creative soul seeks to bring into existence that which has not been realized before. Rendering these faces is a way for me to create, as well as connect with others on a more intimate and emotional level. Feeding the pressing need, I will continue to seek and share this powerful connection.

-Macon Bunn