Liz Collins (born 1968) is an American contemporary artist and designer. Collins is recognized for her artwork involving fabric, knitwear, and textiles as well as the fashion label she developed. She has expertise in textile media including the transition of fabric into multi-dimensional forms as a method to vary the scale of her pieces to make them architectural and inviting rather than object-based. Collins is based in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Early life and education

Liz Collins graduated with a BFA degree (1991) and MFA degree (1999) from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Collins launched her personal knitwear clothing line in 1999 as her MFA thesis at RISD and ran her business until 2004. She was a professor of textiles at RISD from 2003 to 2013.

Career

After receiving her M.F.A., Collins spent the next several years developing her own knitwear company until 2004. Recognized for its innovative design, Collins developed a patent for her specialized technique of interweaving and assembling different materials to construct her garments. The label gained popularity, celebrity recognition, and media coverage. Collins became a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1999 from her personal brand. In the middle stages of her fashion design career, she could no longer afford to finance her label's labor wages and meet society's demand of product. Collins soon began to

outsource Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

her products which is when she felt disconnected with her creative process and missed the hands-on aspect of designing garments. Once the fashion label closed, Collins then returned to RISD to teach textiles as an associate professor, until 2013.Collins, Liz
Curriculum vitae
She has also taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Moore College of Art,

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

."Bio." ''Liz Collins'', https://lizcollins.com/Bio. In 2017, Collins served as a mentor to

Marco DaSilva Marco DaSilva is Brazilian-American multimedia artist, primary working in painting and drawing. His work integrates a personal symbology amidst explorations of his multi-racial, queer and manic experience. Early life and education DaSilva wa ...

in Queer Art's Fellowship program.

"Knit-Grafting"

"Knit-Grafting" is a term created by Liz Collins used to describe her artistic process of reconstructing garments, and is most specifically used in her work as a fashion designer. This term stemmed from the fundamental of

Grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

, which is the process of intertwining two or more fabrics together. Collin's Knit-Grafting incorporates numerous panels of fabrics as well fusing various materials together. These materials may include Lace, Metals, and other mediums used to make her design stand out.

Knitting Nation

As a response to the fashion industry she previously worked within, Collins launched Knitting Nation. KN was a multi-part installation and performance project that spanned the course of several years and was globally spread. It was a site-specific installation with collaborative performance that revealed some facets of the textile and apparel manufacturing processes by demonstrating costumed seamstresses manually working on knitting machines. The objective of this work was to bring awareness to topics such as sexuality and gender within fashion, labor, and the issue of sustainable practices through immersive, visual means. Crafting is filled with power hierarchies and gender nuances that are centered around the LGBTQ+ culture as fiber-based crafts like embroidery, knitting, and sewing examine the numerous preferences of society and raise reactions of those disapproving. More specifically, Knitting Nation Phase 4 was titled "Pride" to admire and acknowledge the original rainbow flag of the LGBTQ+ Community. This installation was a hand knit rainbow flag that was displayed at the front and center steps of a park in Providence, Rhode Island for six hours.

Other work

Other artwork by Liz Collins incorporates recycled textiles from previous art pieces, abstract designs, and structural components like poles and fences.Edelkoort, Lidewij. "Indomitable." ''NYTM Magazine,'' pp. 87–91. These pieces typically entertain a diverse color palette, and explore themes such as human interconnectedness and cosmic energy. Her work exists on a plane of varying size such as intimate, fibrous wall hangings to life size installations that transport the audience to a temporary alternative universe. Collins emphasizes interactive multi-media art that embodies various textures, scents, and colors in the materials to help make the audience's experiences multi-sensory. In 2022, Collins was commissioned to create the installation ''Every Which Way'' (2022) for

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

's Manhattan office complex in the historic

James A. Farley Building The James A. Farley Building is a mixed-use structure in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, which formerly served as the city's main United States Postal Service (USPS) branch. Designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Beaux-Arts style, the structur ...

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 2005:

Knoxville Museum of Art The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), is an art museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. It specializes in historical and contemporary art pieces from the East Tennessee region. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists o ...

, Knoxville, Tennessee * 2006: RISD, Providence, Rhode Island * 2008:

Rhode Island School of Design Museum The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877, and still shares multiple build ...

, Providence, Rhode Island * 2011:

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Since then it has gone through multiple na ...

, Boston, Massachusetts * 2011: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts * 2012: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City *2016:

Museum of Art and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

(MAD), New York City – featuring a time-based performance and installation

Collections

Collins has public collections in museums and gallery spaces across the country, which include the

Museum of Arts & Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

in New York, New York; the

FIT Museum The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It ...

in New York, NY, the

RISD Museum The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877, and still shares multiple build ...

in Providence, RI, the Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York, the Leslie-Lohmann Museum of Art in New York, NY, and the

School of Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

and the Fashion Resource Center in Chicago, IL.

Awards

* United States Artist Target Fellowship, 2006 * MacColl Johnson Fellowship, 2011 * CeCArtsLink Grant with intentions to produce a Knitting Nation installation in Croatia.

References

External links

* *https://madmuseum.org/learn/liz-collins *https://academicaffairs.risd.edu/tag/liz-collins/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Liz American fashion designers American women fashion designers Rhode Island School of Design alumni Textile artists Maryland Institute College of Art faculty School of the Art Institute of Chicago faculty Moore College of Art and Design faculty Pratt Institute faculty American LGBT artists LGBT fashion designers Living people 1968 births