Mike Collins

Michael Collins is an artist who lives and works on the Southside of Hermosa Beach, California. Obsessive by nature, Collins often creates several practically identical works, upon which developing thoughts and emotions are revealed: notes are made and then crossed out, "mistakes" often repeated.
He approaches each piece waiting for "the trouble" to begin. "I'm not interested until the mistake happens. I'm waiting for the wheels to fall off. For me, the painting begins here...when I am ready to throw the brush across the room and walk away from the canvas." It is in this battle that a kind of "terrible beauty" arises. He produces acute personal moments for the observer, manifested by the absence of rules and incorporating intentional omissions. Each piece of the story luring the viewer round and round in circles.
The results are deconstructed to the extent that meaning is shifted and obscure. Interpretation becomes boundless. It is this penetrating injection of ambiguity that blurs the breach between the pedestrian and the extraordinary.
The vitality and power of his paintings is captured in vigorous and intrepid brush strokes, exploiting bold colors which he uses to depict human desire and conflict. The thought processes are ...

Mike's Guitar Parlor Permanent Installation 2017
Hotel Hermosa Permanent Installation 2016
Wicked+ on Pier 2016
Splintered Heart on Pier 2016
Mike Collins PCH Gallery 2015
Collins@2401 2011
Lourdes Bar and Grill Saladita, Mexico 2009
Salvatore's Hermosa 2008