Interview with Feature Artist Charlotte Collins
This Month’s Feature artist is Charlotte Collins whose pieces are on display for January.
In an interview with us, Charlotte discusses exploring DIY culture through art, influences behind the style of her art, artistic advice, and more!
Charlotte will be having an opening on Thursday, January 11th from 6-8pm AND an Artist Talk on January 20th at 2pm.
In your artist bio, you state that your "current work explores the theory that Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture is a form of quiet resistance to consumerism." Have you always been interested in DIY or was there a particular instance in your life that prompted you to explore it artistically?
I’ve been interested in DIY projects ever since I discovered YouTube DIY tutorials in elementary school. I took part in all of the trends at the time: duct tape wallets, polymer clay miniatures, friendship bracelets, nail art, etc. Getting a degree in environmental studies and taking an anthropology class on the global influence of consumerism and capitalism got me interested in thinking about DIY critically as a way for individuals to build their identities outside of the intersectional constraints of our society. I’ve always been most interested in art that makes a political statement and I’ve enjoyed exploring DIY theory through a body of written and visual work.
Some of your pieces have a pop-art dynamism to them. Have comics influenced your work? If so or if not, who are your most significant creative influences?
I’m a huge fan of the pop art movement, especially how it uses mass culture imagery to critique the commodification of life – how we come to correlate our identities with our commodities. I think the vibrant colors and flashy messaging in advertisements and pop art hint at something we are collectively missing. We are drawn to joyful advertisements because we lack the joy felt in strong communities, especially now with loneliness as an epidemic. I’m not necessarily a big comics fan, but I have been trying to explore comics more because I think they are the coolest method of storytelling and I’m hoping to move into more overt storytelling eventually. I’m inspired by Instagram artists @juleskangsharpe (from RI!) and @ohmyghoulia.
How do you go about finding opportunities to exhibit your work?
Finding art opportunities is almost a job in itself. It takes LOTS of research and putting yourself out there. Artwork Archive is a great resource for calls for art. I’ll also search on social media or find nearby galleries with Google Maps and look on their sites to see if any calls are posted. I think the art field is difficult to enter without a degree in fine art, and I’d like to help change this. I started a collaborative art zine last fall called “Art as Liberation” featuring work from nine artists across the country and I’m planning to expand on this project in 2024. You can visit my website www.sandcherrycreative.com and sign up for my newsletter if you are interested in learning more!
If you could give a piece of artistic advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Be okay with who and where you are, in art and in life. I have a wide range of interests and following them has meant that I’m always on a different path from the people around me. I used to care a lot about not fitting in with a group of people, but I’ve learned that trying to fit in has only hurt me. The positive influences in my life are the people that like that I’m a little bit strange and follow my passions.
I also tend to be impatient with myself, always wishing I was doing more to achieve my goals. I spent most of last year very disabled and had a long journey to my diagnosis of and treatment for chronic vestibular migraine. I was forced into a complete reset and learned to feel gratitude for every positive thing in my life.
How did you first learn about The Collaborative and what have you learned in the process of preparing for your opening?
I learned about The Collaborative when I met Sandy McDonald last Fall while she was tabling for The Collaborative at Anti-Robot Club. I thought The Collaborative was so cool and talked to Sandy about getting involved. I then emailed her, and she said a Feature Artist spot had opened for January. I’m a fast and prolific painter and I benefited last year from having lots of extra paintings lying around my house. I took the spot and here I am! I had fun curating my show from a few paintings that had not yet been shown and a few I created specifically for my Feature show.