For Your Eyes Only
Charcoal on paper
12 cm x 16 cm
2022
Private collection
Charcoal on paper
12 cm x 16 cm
2022
Private collection
Collins' small drawing of the iconic model and actress, Emily Ratajkowski, is his first foray into the nude portrait genre. The nude is one of the most enduring themes in art. For millennia, artists have explored humanity's fascination with the bare, physical body. Through these explorations, the nude has evolved through the ages to reflect the tastes and concerns of each society that represents it.
Collins conceived this drawing as a study for a larger work in charcoal, a medium that he had not explored previously. In this study, Collins investigates the most contemporary evolution of the nude: the nude selfie. Whereas, for most of art history, nudes have been created by and for men, in taking nude self portrait, a female photographer seizes authorship and maintains her agency.
Ratajkowski's self portrait exemplifies Collins' concept of the nude selfie. It exists in tension between the private and public spheres. It is private in its nakedness but it is public, because the photographer, Ratajkowski, posted it on her Twitter (now X) feed, for all to see. The title of Collins' study underscores that tension.
Although the medium, style and subject matter of this drawing are novel for Collins, the artwork still fits comfortably in his broader oeuvre. The moody, chiaroscuro lighting, the disarming intimacy and the sultriness of the subject combine to create a haunting portrait of one of this century's most recognizable sex symbols.
