Claire (CC) Collins
Art + Extended Media
Cleaning my room has always been a seemingly impossible task. So many things right in front of me to sort out—it was daunting. Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to collage—because of how messy, random, and unorganized I can make it. Collage is a cathartic form of self-expression through chaos and randomness. My collages are filled to the brim with, oftentimes, random junk—much like my childhood bedroom. The chaos that ensues when I begin a collage or any other media I may work with is under my control, unlike the chaos that went on in my childhood, especially with my mother. My allegorical representations of my childhood and mental health represent another way to take control of my own personal experiences. I am my mother’s child—I know that. I could run from that fact until the day I die and still be the same distance from it. But through this art, I am held accountable, and I would be a hypocrite if I continued the chain.
I Don’t Deserve To Have Mayo
2025
Gouache, aluminium
Painting: 17 x 13”, Sculpture: 3.5 x 1.5”
Everyone Else In The World Seems To Know How To Ride A Bike
2025
Gouache, magazine and book clippings, mayonnaise packet, beads, embroidery thread
21 x 25.5”
You don’t know how to ride a bike.
You briefly knew how to when you were little.
You used to ride up and down the street with your friends. Your siblings would give you rides on the back of theirs when you didn’t feel like riding.
But just as quickly as you learned, you stopped.
Your parents got divorced, your mom sold your bike on Facebook Marketplace because you never used it.
And then you got to college, eager to ride your bike everywhere. And all of a sudden, you forgot how.
You couldn’t even PICTURE how to ride a bike
People here ride their bikes everywhere. You start to wonder why everyone else around you knows how to ride a bike.
You talk to your classmates and they all say, “yeah I don’t really know how to ride a bike” as they pop a wheelie right in front of you.
And over all these years, you’ve been writing to me about not knowing how to ride a bike, instead of staying committed to learning how.
And don’t get me wrong, you’ve tried too many times to pick it back up again.
But too many more times, you’ve scraped your knees
And cried about it for weeks.
Mommy I Picked You Some Flowers
2026
Wooden board, barbed wire, dried flowers, denim pocket, stickers
19 x 25.5”
Mommy I picked you some flowers can you take them and put them in a vase like the other girls mommys do?
