Rachel Coyne

Star Giants#

Artist’s Statement#

Technique: acrylic on paper, 18" x 24" unframed.

My main artistic occupation is writing novels, but recently I’ve returned to painting. I tend to think though, that even while I’m painting, I’m still writing a story - preferably one with a little mystery. Star Giants with its insignificant houses and giant unknowns reflects a common theme in my paintings: visions of the tiny, blind place humans occupy in the natural world. We think we are observing the universe, but it is watching us as well.

Bite#

Artist’s Statement#

Technique: acrylic on paper, 18" x 24" unframed.

I paint a lot of snakes. To me, they represent mystery, rebirth (snakes shed their skin after all, they grow and change), healing, healthy sexuality. Here in Bite I’ve mixed a snake image with an old European symbol from the Middle Ages - that of the pelican feeding its child with blood from its own breast. The mix of the images is pleasantly unsettling to me.

About the Artist#

Rachel Coyne is a writer and painter from Minnesota. Her previous books include Daughter, Have I Told You? (Henry Holt), Whiskey Heart (New River Press) and The Patron Saint of Lost Comfort Lake (New River Press). She recently released the final book in the Young Adult e-book series The Antigone Ravynn Chronicles.