Grandad is a short video about masculinity and the absence of male role models in Colin’s life. Colin is exploring how it might have been to have had his grandfather around at a significant time in his life; he thinks about who he was and what might have been. He also considers the significant role models he does have.
Work No. 122, Grandad,
HD video, 2017
Thoughts Lined Up is a series of photographs by Colin that have been deeply influenced by artist and musician, Martin Creed. In particular, Creed’s latest album ‘Thoughts Lined Up’. When working visually, Creed prefers to avoid titling his works, instead opting for numbers. In response to this Colin chose to use the titles of his songs to name photos he had already taken, so that the title would not influence the creation of the image.
Track 7, ‘Difficult Thoughts’, is a photograph of the empty shop that Colin’s dad used to own. Colin says:
I grew up with that shop and the creative activities within it influenced my young artistic self. However, my relationship with my father has become an uncomfortable topic so whenever I walk past the old shop I never know whether to mourn its loss or feel glad neither it nor my dad are part of my life.
