We’ve long been a fan of Zach Brunner’s work, following him on Instagram and partnering with him on a t-shirt collaboration for our sister project, Pheromone.

Brunner was able to join us for our first event in Los Angeles where we had a chance to talk about his work.

Artist Interview

Natural Pursuits (NP): You attended your first Natural Pursuits event on 2/18. What is your relationship to casual nudity?

Zach Brunner (ZB): I went to a nude beach last summer, which was my first time ever doing so.  Natural Pursuits has been my second nude experience and I have to say, I really enjoyed it and hope to do it again soon. It’s interesting. It’s mentally challenging at first, getting past the initial anxiety of being naked in front of other people.  

But ultimately, it’s very freeing. And kinda sexy! I have to say it was pretty disappointing having to put my clothes back on afterwards. Can’t wait for the next event!

NP: Your work frequently draws inspiration from comics, video games, and horror and makes them more queer. In a way, you’re creating representation that’s not there. Why is that important to you?

ZB: I grew up reading comics and watching movies, I’ve always been obsessed with pop culture. I’ve always been disappointed that I never had that representation in the media I consumed. Never having that made me feel like my gay feelings were wrong, and were not something society talked about. 

I can only imagine how my mindset would be different if I grew up with constant queer representation.  I know it’s cheesy but the phrase “be the change you want to see in the world” really stuck with me.  I’m not gonna wait for pop culture to finally center queer stories and voices, I’m going to just do it myself. I want to see these queer characters now, so that’s what I’ll draw.

NP: I always love the domestic scenes you create. Tell me a bit about your decision making process regarding the composition (i.e. what’s going on in the images, the color pallet, the physicality of the couple, etc.).

ZB: On a base level, these images are all pulled from memories of past relationships. I try not to solely focus on the people in this series, but encapsulate them and their entire surroundings.  The places we live have our stamp on them, they tell our stories just as much as we do. I want the rooms these people occupy to be a large part of the storytelling. I like capturing the normalcy of these quiet moments.

NP: How much trouble do you have with censorship on social media? And, does it make it harder for you to sell work?

ZB: I haven’t really had much difficulty with getting censored, surprisingly.  I’ve been very fortunate to have only had one piece removed for being sexually explicit, which is surprising because im only posting drawings of hairy butts and big bulges.

About the Artist

Website: https://zacharyiswackary.com/

Instagram: @zacharyiswackary