Today we’d like to introduce you to Bunnie Reiss.
What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in Maryland but raised mostly in Colorado. I moved to California over 20 years ago, and have lived in a few major areas in both the North and the South. I was won over years ago by this huge State that seems so different from the rest of our country. I love how big and dramatic the landscape is. It will likely always remain my home.
My work consistently reflects my Eastern European family background, and my dedication to exploring nature and the cosmos.
I find myself growing and changing all the time, and I often investigate the specifics of shifts in myself, my surroundings, and the world in general.
These ideas are often realized in murals, immersive sculptures and paintings. Over the past year I have added large-scale mosaics to my practice, and it’s been really exciting. It’s given me a chance to use the arrangement of objects and materials in the same way that I use paint. The process if very labor intensive, but the end result is breathtaking.
My life changed quite a bit during the pandemic, and I relocated full-time to my desert home about 2 years ago from Los Angeles. I have a dream painting studio on my 5-acre property near Joshua Tree National Park, where I’m slowly building up a little homestead we call Lilac Lane Farms. It’s a lovely art farm where we grow food, have hilarious chickens and ample space to realize big ideas. It was one of the best and most life-changing decisions when I purchased this land, and I’m utterly grateful to call this place my home.
The community I found while living out here has definitely informed my current creative process. I’m surrounded by amazing talented artists, writers, musicians, etc who are building and creating things that are much bigger than themselves. It’s super inspiring.
I’ve been doing various iterations of this work my whole life, but really started digging into my particular brand of weirdness in the early 2000’s and it’s just gotten more fulfilling and more integrated over time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My art practice has been evident for most of my life, but about 10 years ago I began really living from/off of my art. Before that I did a lot of weird stuff, anything I could do too just to get the money to continue working. And that’s definitely where my discipline comes in. You learn to work extremely hard to squeak out extra hours to paint, build, sew, whatever. Your practice becomes very strong, and get really connected to your language.
It isn’t as easy as some people might think. It’s actually constant work. I work my hardest, the hardest I’ve ever worked, and then I find myself working even harder than that. But once you start to get traction on your own voice, your own unique style, your own language, you begin to really see how that hard work is paying off.
Ive always found that working with other artists, especially seeking out mentors or artists who I admire, who are older and more experienced than myself, is really important. There is so much to learn, and really listening to those who have more experience and are willing to share their knowledge is priceless.
There are so many ups and downs and other directions that are just nonlinear. But, I’m always learning and adjusting. Sometimes my experience helps the process goes smoothly, sometimes my experience holds me up. I strive to remain in the flow and feeling of right now, and I tap into friends and mentors for reflection. I go for long walks and sit quietly watching the desert sunsets. Sometimes I find all the reflection I require for the moment when I seek information from somewhere in myself. It’s always changing. I’m always changing, and I’m okay with that. Really okay, actually.
What else should we know about what you do?
I definitely want to extend an invitation to Hwy 62 Studio Tours (https://www.mbcac.org/pages/
For 21 years, artists from all over the desert open their properties and studios for 3 weekends in October. This is a very magical time of year in the desert. There are almost 200 properties open this year alone.
The work that goes in to prepping for the month long event is incredible. We have been working around the clock in the past several weeks getting lots of crazy new art ready. Mosaics, paintings, blankets, sculptures! This is a great chance to come out visit my studio. Would love to have you! October 8/9, 15/16, 22/23.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I’m happiest when I’m not attached to outcomes and when I remember that my life, your life, everyone’s, including my cat, the coyotes, and the owls outside, is important but fleeting. And it’s happening all the time. When I can tap into that, just be in life, like being in love, I’m not questioning. I’m endlessly curious and I’m aligned with my most fulfilling outcome. Like nothing I could ever think of, which would be so much more narrow than the natural outcome.
I’m happiest when I’m really in it. Not resisting the nature of it. I don’t want to attach to a specific narrative.
I engage with alignment and let it be this way, relaxing into it, feeling my way around it for as long as I can. This feels good and this is when I am happiest.
Contact information:
- Website: http://www.bunniereiss.com/
- Instagram: @bunnieluvrocks
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