Andy Collins was born 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia. The artist now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Walking a thin line between figuration and abstraction, Collins has struck upon a new breed of forms. Raw and elegant each shape has the mirrored symmetry of a Rorschach test which allows them to play with our psyche. Forms with a mantra like quality, one can almost hear them generate sound vibrations through the thick pools of alkyd. Almost like melted ice-cream, the surface seduces us into a meditative space where our minds are able to wander through the subliminal territory of each reflected shape. By dissecting images from the glossy pages of fashion magazines, Collins developed this new world of visceral forms in suspended animation. Although potentially banal as sources, he reduces the over-saturated imagery of mass-media to its minutia until he has discovered an austere majesty.Collins uses this subliminally as a departure point for mystical experience. Reminiscent of religious painting, Collins's pastel colours evaporate into halos of blinding white radiance. Space becomes the focus of Collins's paintings and is suggestive of topographical maps, geological formations and x-rays. Fluctuating between the mechanical and biological, Collins evokes an unsettling mix, that of a calculating and corporate detachment born of the most intimate contemplation.



Andy Collins's paintings are models of visual perfection. Approaching painting with a minimalist's fetishism, Collins hones his canvases to the simplest and boldest statements to capitalise on the power of suggested form. Working from photos, Andy Collins removes the subject, focussing instead on the evocative possibility of implied image. His abstracted patterns retain the essence of their original picture, and extrapolate a more complex interpretation, provoking emotional and spiritual reactions to qualities of surface, colour and composition. In Untitled, Andy Collins presents a pattern of mesmerising consonance. His biomorphic form insinuates bodily tactility; through clinical rendering, Andy Collins elevates these connotations to a metaphysical plane, creating a sensuality that's idealistic and conceptually pure.Andy Collins's abstract paintings flirt between the intellect of formalist perfection and the frivolity of high-gloss design. In Untitled, Collins's jagged pattern tears through his canvas with cartoon violence, suggestive of teeth, geological landscapes or seismological graphs. Effusing his form with a toxic glow, Collins subtly shifts the concentrated flatness of his image to a dynamic element of intrigue. His seamless brushwork renders this painting flawless. This controlled craftsmanship adds depth to the generic aesthetic of mass production.