Biography
Megan Collins is a contemporary surrealist oil painter, who was born in Cork City in 1988. As a child often alone exploring nature & creativity helped Megan escape into a world of imagination.
Using a combination of her own symbols, sacred geometry, a range of cultural & historical reference to cultivate her own language. She uses painting as a means of dealing with her own pain & family tragedies. The landscapes vary adding to the mood & narrative of her bold compositions. Megan's strong use of colour is part of her distinctive style & emanates the vibrancy & persistence of life & spirit. Even though she uses herself as the basis of her work, she disassociates & constructs herself as representation for anybody who has had these experience or feelings. Often naked symbolising everything from vulnerability to the beauty & complexity of the body,; conveying an overall sense of being stripped bare. She Graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2012, receiving an Honours Bachelors degree in Fine Art Painting. Collins remained living in Limerick for two years, continuing her work in Wickham Street Studios, while there she also an Intern at Ormston House Gallery. She is currently living in Cork City and continuing her practise in Outlaw Studios. In 2019 she attended CIT Crawford, studying Arts in group facilitation, which gave her skills in innovative methods of creative facititation incorperating creativite arts, drama, music, dance & participatory projects. |
Statement
"I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."― Frida Kahlo
Artist C.V
Education:
Limerick School of Art and Design, B.A Hons in Fine Art Painting, 2008-2012
Erasmus: Fontys school of the Arts, Tilburg, Netherlands, 2010-2011
Crawford college of Art & Design, Arts in group facilitation, 2019-2020
Cork Education & Training Board, City & guilds accreditited training, Decrotive painting skills, 2017-2018
Group Exhibitions:
-Culture night, Linc, Cork city, 2020
-Wickham Studio at Bourn Vincent Gallery, U.L, Limerick, July/August 2014
-Kilkenny Arts Festival, August 2013
-TomCat street festival, Limerick, June 2013
-Wickham Street Depot, Ormston House, Limerick, December 2012
-The Future is Now, L.S.A.D, Graduate Show, Limerick, June 2012
-After Image, Ormston House, Limerick, May 2011
-Hunt Ten, Hunt Museum, Limerick, May 2010
Award:
Hunt Museum, Purchase Prize (group award), May 2010
Articles &Review:
Exit Review Limerick
EVA 2012
As an exploration of the ‘realities and illusions’ of the artist’s ‘inner and outer wonderlands’. Collins’ paintings attest to some admirable and honest self-reflection. Bright, brave and surreal, the large-scale works in particular show massive potential. More work in the formal and technical aspects of painting would further enhance her already exceptional eye for composition. As a young artist, she might soon find that in shedding ‘Alice’, and even Freud, and moving into more Frida Kahlo-esque terrain, her personal uniqueness may be further revealed and consolidated. Please keep painting.
-Joanne Laws
Fairytales, fantasy and board games comprise the imagery in Collins paintings. In one work a sleeping Alice in Wonderland is surrounded by a Monopoly board, while a grinning Peter Pan leers from another. The artist explains that the scenes are a cross- over between dreams, illusion and reality and she uses her own past experiences to create these narratives. Skulls, pop culture, and references to life and death abound in her work, showing that despite his controversies, Damien Hirst is still an influential figure to young artists.
-Aoife Flynn
Limerick School of Art and Design, B.A Hons in Fine Art Painting, 2008-2012
Erasmus: Fontys school of the Arts, Tilburg, Netherlands, 2010-2011
Crawford college of Art & Design, Arts in group facilitation, 2019-2020
Cork Education & Training Board, City & guilds accreditited training, Decrotive painting skills, 2017-2018
Group Exhibitions:
-Culture night, Linc, Cork city, 2020
-Wickham Studio at Bourn Vincent Gallery, U.L, Limerick, July/August 2014
-Kilkenny Arts Festival, August 2013
-TomCat street festival, Limerick, June 2013
-Wickham Street Depot, Ormston House, Limerick, December 2012
-The Future is Now, L.S.A.D, Graduate Show, Limerick, June 2012
-After Image, Ormston House, Limerick, May 2011
-Hunt Ten, Hunt Museum, Limerick, May 2010
Award:
Hunt Museum, Purchase Prize (group award), May 2010
Articles &Review:
Exit Review Limerick
EVA 2012
As an exploration of the ‘realities and illusions’ of the artist’s ‘inner and outer wonderlands’. Collins’ paintings attest to some admirable and honest self-reflection. Bright, brave and surreal, the large-scale works in particular show massive potential. More work in the formal and technical aspects of painting would further enhance her already exceptional eye for composition. As a young artist, she might soon find that in shedding ‘Alice’, and even Freud, and moving into more Frida Kahlo-esque terrain, her personal uniqueness may be further revealed and consolidated. Please keep painting.
-Joanne Laws
Fairytales, fantasy and board games comprise the imagery in Collins paintings. In one work a sleeping Alice in Wonderland is surrounded by a Monopoly board, while a grinning Peter Pan leers from another. The artist explains that the scenes are a cross- over between dreams, illusion and reality and she uses her own past experiences to create these narratives. Skulls, pop culture, and references to life and death abound in her work, showing that despite his controversies, Damien Hirst is still an influential figure to young artists.
-Aoife Flynn
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