“Smoke Signal” by David Collins

oil paint and graphite on paper. framed 32 x 23 x 1 cm, 2024.

“Smoke Signal” is taken from a poster explaining CPR. Medical emergencies are one of the only contexts in which closeness between two men does not call into question their heterosexuality, which I am fascinated by.

David Collins is a painter and multimedia artist. He graduated from the Ruskin School of Art BFA programme in 2023, and is currently based in Leeds. His art is primarily focused on unfixed or transitional states of being. This includes the experience of being queer, trans, and working class; it also includes the people and things you see in dreams, with their surreal colours, soft focus, and secrets tucked into corners. It is about also the presence or absence of warmth and safety: you can be safe inside of a memory, even a painful one.