Gee Gee Collins
Gee Gee Collins was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She studied painting under Michael Phillips at the College of Charleston and received a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the University of Georgia. She also traveled and studied at Lamar Dodd School of Art in Cortona, Italy. From the start of her career, she has been captivated by bright colors and the essence of minimalism. Her bold brush strokes and colorful palette combine to create layers of paint that give each piece a history and an ethereal quality. She approaches the canvas with ease and spontaneity, resulting in paintings filled with energy and movement.
Gee Gee is best known for her abstract paintings exploring unique pallets with line and texture. She is heavily influenced by Joan Mitchell, Franz Kline, and Matisse. After intensely studying the ever-changing world of fashion and eccentric colors used in mixed media, Gee Gee has blossomed her style into an array of extravagant design. She follows forms which evoke organic lines and whimsy, triggering a sense of fun and elegance within each work. Using the theme of fashion but also playing with the theme of femininity, Gee Gee creates pieces which exhibit a strong sense of lust and beauty, while effortlessly depicting her subjects with the use of shape and color. Her pattern creates abstract paintings that explore an environment ever changing, shaped by pigmentation and a balance struck between beauty and chaos.
Today Gee Gee creates in her studio and a lot of her style is influenced by a free spirit and we can feel this freedom in the movement and use of her colors, a strong sense of lust and beauty, while effortlessly depicting her subjects with the use of shape and color. Her mother is a Fine artist, and for her growing up, she was constantly surrounded by art and fashion, as her mother also owned a chain of woman’s clothing stores. Gee Gee was constantly exposed to new trends and exciting colors in textile and design; where a lot of this exposure has transcended into her body of work today. As a mother, she is nurturing this lineage of art to her kids, allowing them to grow freely into their own.
Gee Gee is also heavily influenced by her studies under Michael Phillips. At the age of 18, she was able to capture her style freely, as Phillips techniques emphasize the theory of “no rules;” a completely liberating experience for Gee Gee, as she was able to thoroughly express herself with no boundaries. She was also introduced to artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Mother Well, and Cy Twombly, who guided her in her exploration as a young artist. This was a truly exciting time for her because at such a young age she didn’t feel the pressure of restriction in art. And today, we can feel this heavily in her execution. Collins’s works are featured in "100 Artists of the Midwest", a prominent book which takes a fresh look at 100 living artists from the Midwest, their personal stories, and inspirations, along with several examples of their works.