LONDON.- Scottsdale, Arizona-based contemporary abstract artist Joan Maureen Collins will exhibit new work in Dreams Without Borders 2, an international group exhibition opening Friday, October 9, 2026, from 3-6 p.m. at D Contemporary in London.

Curated by Sonia Borrell with Studio to Gallery and presented at D Contemporary under the direction of Gallery Director and Curator Irene Pouliassi, the exhibition brings together 10 international artists whose practices cross geographic, cultural and creative boundaries.

For Collins, the works arriving in London carry something quite literal from the landscapes in which they were made.

Two of the paintings were created in Sedona, Arizona, where Collins worked directly on the land, using water, earth and materials gathered from the surrounding landscape to make marks across the canvas. Sedona's distinctive red-rock formations preserve a geological history spanning hundreds of millions of years, with iron oxide contributing to their characteristic color. For Collins, bringing traces of the landscape physically into the work becomes part of the painting's history - not simply an image of a place, but evidence of having been there.

Other works emerged this September during a self-directed residency along the coast of West Cork, Ireland, where Collins carried raw canvas to beaches and coves along Ireland's Wild Atlantic coast. Sea water, sand, rain and wind became part of the process. Seaweed and other materials gathered along the shoreline became mark-making tools, while water moved pigment and organic inks across the surface in ways Collins could guide but never completely control.

The resulting paintings will travel from these dramatically different landscapes - the red earth of Sedona and the shifting water and weather of Ireland's Atlantic coast - to meet in London.


Joan Maureen Collins. Ireland Seaweed Process

"I make abstract paintings by immersing myself - and often the canvas itself - in the landscape," Collins says. "I use water, earth and materials I find there, allowing nature to become a collaborator in the work. Ultimately, I want the paintings to wake something up in you - to make you notice, feel and be more present to this life."

Collins has been returning to Ireland since 2013, and the country has played an important role in the evolution of her practice. An early workshop on Sherkin Island introduced her to gathering natural materials from the landscape for mark-making, an experience that helped shift her practice away from conventional tools and toward a more physical collaboration with place.

That approach has since traveled with her. In the Sonoran Desert, Sedona, Ireland and other landscapes around the world, Collins increasingly takes the canvas outside the traditional studio and allows the conditions of a place to enter the work itself.

Rather than depicting a landscape, Collins considers each painting evidence of an encounter with it.

"The landscape changes me first. The paintings are evidence."

Collins's work A Shape of Time is among three artworks selected by D Contemporary to represent Dreams Without Borders 2 in the exhibition's official press materials.

Collins is represented by Globe Fine Art in Santa Fe and has exhibited internationally and throughout the United States, including SCOPE Miami, Art Basel Switzerland/Artbox, Phoenix Art Museum and exhibitions in New York, Santa Fe and Scottsdale. Her work is held in private collections in the United States and internationally.

Her practice and participation in Dreams Without Borders 2 were recently featured in Disruptors Magazine in an article by exhibition curator Sonia Borrell.


Joan Maureen Collins, Ireland Coastal Process.

JOAN MAUREEN COLLINS

Joan Maureen Collins is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based contemporary abstract artist whose paintings explore the visceral relationship between landscape, material and human experience. Working with water, earth, organic inks, graphite and unconventional tools gathered from the landscape, Collins allows nature to participate directly in the creation of her work. Her practice has been shaped by encounters across the American Southwest, Ireland, India, Bhutan and other landscapes around the world.


Joan Maureen Collins, Ireland Coast. Found Materials Process

EXHIBITION DETAILS

Dreams Without Borders 2
Curated by Sonia Borrell / Studio to Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, October 9, 2026 | 3-6 p.m.
D Contemporary
London, United Kingdom


Joan Maureen Collins, Sedona Process