A statement about the work from the artist:
In my practice, I examine the way smaller parts meet to make a larger whole, as well as the possibilities of making art in multiples. I have a great love for process, repetition, ephemerality, and the intersections between different disciplines.
Most recently, I have been focused on making monotype prints. This technique allows me to create multiples that are distinct individuals, and can’t be recreated exactly. Unlike most other printmaking methods (woodcut, etching, etc.) where the end result is a group of nearly-identical copies, each monotype is completely unique. I am working in conversation with the materials instead of maintaining total control, and often, evidence of the process emerges as the most important formal quality.
This series of ten monotypes, called Abstract in Purple, was completed in October of 2022. They were made by painting with ink on a sheet of glass, and then hand-pulling a print onto paper, letting the different colors of ink run together. Although they are relatively small, each print measuring only 9 by 12 inches, they can seem much larger thanks to the complex organic patterns that form from mixing matte and metallic inks.
In these pieces, I have been experimenting with pigment, combining both likely and unlikely colors into a single image. There is a parallel to be drawn to the way love, romantic or otherwise, brings people together in both conflicting and complimentary ways. It creates something beautiful and complex, even––or especially––if unexpected.
I have an unreasonable amount of ideas, a diligently-cultivated sense of patience, and a tendency to get swept away by new media. What I haven’t learned yet, I will be learning next. Art begets art, everything comes from everything else, I am in preparation for a most rare hour.
Phoebe Collins (she/her) is an artist based in New Jersey. She maintains an interdisciplinary practice that includes printmaking, drawing, music, public art, and more. When she isn’t working on a project of some kind (which is rare), she can often be found reading, playing records, or spending time with her cat, Nemo. To see more of her work, visit www.phoebecollinsart.com, or find her on Instagram @phoebecollins_art.
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