Looking for some tips on what to do this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Here are a few recommendations from Ocean State Media’s Mareva Lindo and James Baumgartner.
Spotlight: Liz Collins: Motherlode - Through Jan. 11, 2026. RISD Museum, 20 North Main Street, Providence.
Interview by James Baumgartner
Liz Collins makes amazing works out of fabric. She made dresses that use reflective thread to mimic veins, there’s a samurai coat made from leather and wool. And there’s a gown called “Lumberjack Goddess Dress” made from a collection of flannel shirts.
“ I was really into repurposing materials and my friend had all these flannel shirts and he was trying to get rid of some of them,” Collins said in an interview. “And I took them all and then I deconstructed them and made layers of them to make this dress that was kind of referencing like a lesbian style trope of the flannel shirt. But then in this very kind of high femme gown construction. So that was like a kind of fun mixture of elements.”
The dresses are just a small part of the show, it mostly focuses on her knit and fabric pieces that hang on the wall, but they all have a 3-D element to them as the threads often pour out from the frames. One of my favorites is called Power Portal.
“I loved working with the yarn to make it this kind of liquid. To make one material look like another and have gravity do something with the yarn so that it really felt like water or like cascading liquid and kind of gave you this idea that some kind of matter was pouring out from the wall through this portal. And maybe that was also an entrance point as well.”
Another of my favorites is called “Worst Year Ever.” It looks like a canvas that’s been slashed by a giant claw, with red thread dripping down.
“ I think it's like a visualization of a certain kind of visceral pain. But also there’s that complex sensation, imagined sensation of wrenched emotional pain, but also coinciding with some kind of euphoria of release. And some kind of emotional fragility and delicacy at some kind of strength as well. And I put in the metallic areas. They’re like little slices of silvery gold in each of those gashes to talk about that. This kind of glistening, euphoric treasure that pain can bring to a person in their life as some kind of thing to move through.”
Collins lives in Brooklyn now, but her career is closely tied to RISD. She went there when she was a high school student for the pre-college program, then for undergrad. She came back for her MFA and then taught at RISD from 2003 to 2013.
Collins describes her art as “queer forward in its language and presentation.”
“ Because I'm not only a feminist artist, you know, but I'm a queer person who puts that information into the work,” Collins said. “Like the fashion work was all about kind of a sublimation of desire and exploring my emotional landscape in a time when I was questioning my identity, you know, and I actually came out through that work. Like I came to myself, as a queer person through that journey of making that work during grad school and kind of exploring who I was and what I wanted. And then cut to now like the big tapestry that's at the end of that big room that's called ‘Rainbow Mountains Weather.’ It's half of a diptych. That is a huge mountain landscape with these rivers of rainbows running through the sky. And those were pieces that I made for the Venice Biennale last year. And they were very much about a kind of a queer fantasy landscape that lies just beyond the mountain range out of reach, you know other layers of meaning in that work. That's part of the conversation for me and some kind of combination of freaking out and anxiety and anger and frustration, but also euphoria and joy and exuberance and celebrations. So those things kind of, you know, all bundled up together.”
Other events to check out:
Witches Night Out Market - for “magical practitioners, the metaphysically-minded, and the witch-curious.” Featuring artwork, handmade and vintage items; a lighted labyrinth; psychic readings; costume contests; and food trucks and special drinks. Friday, Oct. 24 5:30 - 9:30 p.m., Farm Fresh RI, 10 Sims Ave. Providence.
Western Stars - dance to country and western swing. Friday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m. The Parlour, 1119 North Main Street, Providence.
Witch Please - a coven of fierce queens performs a spellbinding drag show where campy meets creepy. 18+ event. Friday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. The United Theatre, 5 Canal Street, Westerly.
Short Films by David Lynch - a rare opportunity to see the late director’s shorter works, which span from 1967 to 2002. With titles like “Premonitions Following an Evil Deed,” and “The Amputee” 1 and 2, the films are described as unsettling and hallucinatory. Wednesday, Oct. 29, doors at 6 p.m., screening begins at 7 p.m. Jamestown Arts Center, 18 Valley Street, Jamestown.
