Charlotte Collins - January 2024
Charlotte Collins (she/they) combines traditional and digital processes by using physical collage and applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create compositions that she then turns into acrylic or oil paintings. Her current work explores the theory that Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture is a form of quiet resistance to consumerism. To practice DIY is to undertake a complicated task without the help of a paid professional. As DIYers learn to create and repair items on their own, they are freed in part from the cyclical role of the consumer: to purchase an item, discard it when wear begins to show, and then purchase a replacement. According to extended self theory, we associate important objects with pieces of our identity. Through creating, DIYers craft identities outside the monetary constraints of our consumer society. DIY is joyful, resilient, and visionary. She is fascinated by how people use DIY to personalize the trending kitschy, maximalist aesthetic and make their homes and wardrobes playful and cheery. She is also fascinated by the meaning viewers find in her paintings; her intended meaning is just one of many.
