12:00 Ensemble Painting

At this point in time, much of Ashley Collins' 26 year journey is well known: her struggles, years of homelessness, sleeping in abandoned boats, on studio floors, years of rejection of her work, to the heights of being in some of the greatest collections around the world, from the halls of Robert Redford, to Christy Walton, from the Wynn Family Collection, Spielberg/Capshaw collection, to the corporate collections of such companies as Guess?, CAA, and Twentieth Century Fox, to museums and private collections worldwide, from Munich to London, Brunei to Shanghai, Austrailia to Sweden. Collins' collages using paper aged by the elements, some for over 18 years, have become iconic in the world of contemporary art, as have her figurative large scaled portraits of the horse, -instantly recognizable. Like all truly great artists, the work has been followed, analyzed, and imitated, but never duplicated. The layers upon layers of partially obscured images, the balance, the scale, and the gift of patience and time, all of these contribute to the genius of Collins' work. The Art World Today - Does the Wow of the Moment Translate to Emotion Tomorrow? We live in a world of instant media, instant access, instant gratification, but what is the access to? The reality set forth in electronic media is both a blessing and a curse, a view of the world, but a view not unlike the Emperors' new clothes. For it is a view without a soul, and without any effort on our part to earn that view. Art, particularly contemporary and modern art, is subject to the same trick of the imagination; a quick splash or stunt, that is but a passing phase without depth, imitation without a soul. How many of today's works will move the soul and be relevant 10, 20, and 50 years from now? Collins' 26-year journey and history is about creating timeless art with a living soul. Such that succeeding generations will find the beauty just as profound as the current generation, and that each viewing brings a light into life, brings emotion into the eyes of the viewer and allows that viewer to experience something unique, and otherwise impossible. For Collins, the work embodies multigenerational. The work itself often includes original paper, photos and articles from as long ago as the 1600's taking us back through time; the layering techniques lead to ongoing discovery of images - the longer one is with a work, the more new images one sees, year after year.