BUNNY HINZMAN

EXPLORING PASSION, MOVEMENT & ART

By Natalie Downey

Art is essential to the life of Columbus. All our local artists have their own unique style and place in the community, and this diversity of art represents the variety of lives that make up our town.

Local artist Bunny Hinzman has been drawing since she was a child. Growing up in a military family, she moved around and had the opportunity to visit art museums and exhibits across the country. She was homeschooled, and art was an integral part of her education.

Bunny Hinzman

When Bunny’s family settled in Waverly Hall, they started a farm, and Bunny flourished in an area surrounded by nature. Eventually, Bunny’s family adopted an elderly Thoroughbred horse named Polka, a step that would lead Bunny in the direction of what would become her passion.

As Bunny became familiar with her family’s horse, she found a passion she had never known before. “I became engrossed with every aspect of his pedigree,” Bunny recalled. “I began sketching racehorses, and these drawings covered my bedroom walls.”

Frankel - Graphite & Charcoal on Paper 18x24

At the age of fourteen, Bunny began a horse racing blog, Bits N’ Bunny, writing about the topic she had fallen in love with. Her blog received more than 400,000 unique visitors, and she went on to receive media credentials at every major racetrack. As a teenager, Bunny worked for NBC during the Kentucky Derby and Oaks coverage. Her horse racing writing extended to magazines, and Bunny had more than 100 articles published in magazines such as International Racehorse Magazine, The Jockey Club’s America’s Best Racing, and the BloodHorse’s Keeneland Magazine, among others.

“Years before starting college, my article,” ‘The Lasix Legacy’ received a final nomination and honorable mentions from legendary sports journalists Frank deFord and Bill Nack in the inaugural $25,000 Team Valor International Stanley Bergstein Award,” Bunny said.

Hanging My First Solo Exhibit, Equine Moments: Exposing A Passion

In spite of Bunny’s great success as a horse racing journalist, her heart remained drawn to art. While studying and drawing horses, Bunny developed a curious interest in the anatomy of movement, and this interest grew to become a key aspect of her work. As she studied horses, she experimented with representing the movement of the subject. “I eventually transferred my focus from equine anatomy to the human body,” Bunny said.

Bunny attended CSU as an art history major, continuing to develop her interest in movement and space as she found inspiration in Italian Futurism, and, eventually, through her study of the history of the kimono, Japanese aesthetics. Bunny’s studies led her to learn about the Japanese concept of “ma” (space).

“The use of ma creates an intimate interaction between the body and its surroundings,” Bunny says. Ma is about the body and how it experiences the space around it. In her work, she uses light and darkness to create the essence of the movement of a body within space.

Working with other artists in areas of music, theatre, and dance, Bunny says she “seeks to merge creative expressions into one harmony.” In one series, Movement, Bunny drew musicians from the Schwob School of Music without their instruments, portraying the movement and energy in their performances.

No. 6, From Movement - Graphite & Charcoal On Paper 20x20

One of the most unique aspects of Bunny’s work is her commitment to exploring the possibility of drawing as a finished medium. While drawing is often considered on a spectrum from a rough draft to a finished work, Bunny sees drawing as one of the most original art forms and the basis of all art design. “My drawings are not just studies toward paintings or sculptures, but stand as independent works,” Bunny explained. She sees drawing as enabling her to pursue limitless possibilities in her creations, allowing her to push limits and produce an “intricately resolved work of art.”

The human form is an intimate, personal study, and Bunny hopes that her work with the figural in art will “inspire a fresh look at humanity across cultures, in our generation and generations to follow.” Her presentations of the figure in movement offers her viewers the chance to take a moment to consider what it means to be human, to have a body, to take up space, to move. Her work is beautiful, but it also has purpose, and suggests deep contemplation on the part of the artist and those appreciating the art.

Untitled, No. 1 - Graphite & Charcoal on Paper 11x14

With the difficulties our world and community have faced this year, Bunny feels it especially important to continue her momentum toward growth as a local artist. Appreciative of the growth she’s seen in the art community in Columbus, she doesn’t want to slow down or stop because of the pandemic. Her studio recently opened in UpTown Columbus, offering a place to showcase her work and “foster a dialogue with the community,” Bunny said. She hopes to eventually offer in-studio events and programs for the community to get involved with her and her art.

Open Arms - Graphite, Charcoal & Conte on Paper 15” Diameter

Bunny Hinzman Studio (621 2nd Ave)

Her newly-opened studio is located at 621 2nd Avenue, in Columbus’s Historic District. She welcomes visitors Friday’s from 1-5 and Saturday’s from 10-3. Or by appointment through bunnyhinzman.com.