MEET LIZ COLLINS
“being part of an intersectional queer community of creative people focused on being in the world and thriving as artists;
adding to the lineage of creatives of which I am part
[is what interests me about mentoring].”
Liz Collins, courtesy of the artist
Liz Collins is an NYC- based artist known for her dynamic fiber works that vary in scale, form, and context. She has collaborated with design brands on collections of functional textiles, and produced large scale public art works, installations, and performances. Her solo exhibitions and installations have been at the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), the Tang Museum (Saratoga Springs, NY), Candice Madey (NYC), Luis de Jesus (Los Angeles, CA), Rossana Orlandi ( Milan, Italy), and Touchstones Rochdale (England), among others. Collins has been in dozens of group shows over the past 20 years, including at New York institutions the New Museum, the Drawing Center, and the Leslie Lohman Museum, and at LACMA, the National Gallery of Art, the Addison Gallery, and ICA/Boston. Collins’ honors include a USA Fellowship, a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, Drawing Center Open Sessions program, Two Trees Cultural Subsidy Studio Program, and an Anonymous Was A Woman Fellowship. Collins’ new, large tapestries are on view in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. In 2025, Collins’ mid-career retrospective will open at the RISD Museum (Providence, RI) with an accompanying monograph. Liz Collins is represented by Candice Madey gallery in New York.
Work
Installation view of Rainbow Mountain Moon (2024) (left) and Rainbow Mountain Weather (2024) at the La Biennale di Venezia’s 60th International Art Exhibition, Stranieri Ovunque — Foreigners Everywhere
Installation view of Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction, (2023) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Installation view of Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon (2017) at the New Museum
Blue Explosion (2018)
mentor profile
Queer|Art|Mentorship will be accepting applications from emerging artists across the country. Are you open to working with someone remotely, or would you prefer they are based in the same city as you?
“Either is fine.”
What interests you about mentoring?
“Connecting with someone who wants this kind of support and helping them grow and thrive; being part of an intersectional queer community of creative people focused on being in the world and thriving as artists; adding to the lineage of creatives of which I am part.”
Given your experience and interests, what kind of emerging artist do you feel best positioned to support?
“Someone who has some experience with their creative path working outside of academia—this is not a requirement but I appreciate working with people who have life and work experience beyond art school. I like working with artists who have hybrid practices—like mine—someone who bridges art & design for example. Again, not required, but I have great resources for people in this category. Like a person who does art & architecture… or anything that is multimedia. I don’t like mentoring people who want to do what I do in the same way that I do… I like working with artists who have somewhat of a formed vision that is their own, that I can help them grow and make connections for. I am open to any age mentee and would love to have someone in town but am ok with long distance if necessary.”
As a mentor, what would you like to offer an emerging artist? What would you like to receive?
“I offer an approach to mentoring that includes sharing my vast and multifaceted network (fabricators, media, dealers, curators, artists, etc—I am a pretty open and generous connector); time as needed and required; work opportunities (connections to freelance gigs etc if needed); 30+ years of professional wisdom—working as an artist/ designer in many different capacities; kindness; maybe even friendship, if we both want that. I would like to receive the gift of a connection to an enthusiastic and engaged mentee who is driven and dedicated to having a life as a creative person. I also am excited to receive attention from and engagement with the QA community—including with fellow and former mentors and mentees and board members and staff.”
Have you had mentors of your own? Who have they been?
“Mentors of my own would be:
College: textile designer & weaving prof Lisa Scull
Professor years: artist/ writer/ historian Deborah Bright
Crone & art Mentors : Elaine Reichek, Kay Turner, Nayland Blake.”