Lana Collins
Calgary, Alberta
ARTIST BIO
Lana Collins is a queer, British-Canadian, film photographer from the UK. Now based in Canada, she specializes in 35mm photography in both colour and black and white. Her work explores themes of voyeurism and spectatorship within the feminine experience and celebrates the sense of community and sisterhood in queerness and fem identities. Channelling her own experiences and rage that come from the pressure to "perform existence" imposed by the Western and male gaze, Lana uses an intimate lens to capture genuine community within femininity and queerness. As a self-taught artist, Lana strives to capture timeless photographs that are intentionally disconnected from any specific era. Over the course of her artistic career, Lana has continued to increase her technical skills and artistry by working closely with those in her local community. Since her artistic debut, she has quickly gained renown and recognition as a boundary-pushing artist. Not only is she commissioned for her work her photography has also been featured in group exhibitions and film projects. From mastering the complete self- development process to experimenting with chemical processing, Lana continues to grow and is ever-pushing the boundaries of image manipulation and thematic exploration.
PROJECT STATEMENT
The pieces I have chosen come from 2 sets both from the same series focused on the created communities of womanhood, and girlhood. "Endlessness of a Scream" and "Interwoven" ask questions about how women and fems often create unspoken communities of belonging and competition and how do we hold each other in friendship? Shared experiences allow us to hold those we barely know tenderly, and hold space in sisterhood. We prioritize deep connection and understanding, all while very aware of our surveillance and influenced by the need to be the best “performer”. The images from Interwoven prioritize group connections a understandings on a community level, while Endlessness of a Scream speaks to the more intimate one-on-one relationships between women and fems. There is a feeling of existentialism in the space around the two women that is intended to bring into question the tension between anger in our communities with the tenderness that we find in our togetherness. Internalized misogyny bringing forth our hatred and anger for one another coincides with this tenderness and understanding for the shared experiences of sisterhood/girlhood/womanhood etc. In both works, I wanted there to be a balance of shared intimacy in the images with the subjects so that you can feel immersed in their space, while also creating opportunities for distance, through my use of physical space from the subjects, so that you may also experience and partake in the voyeurism that I feel this experience of sisterhood is entrenched in.
