Liz Collins created two monumental 16-foot-long tapestries for the 2024 Venice Biennale, titled *Rainbow Mountains: Moon* and *Rainbow Mountains: Weather* (both 2023). Initially conceived as a single 40-foot weaving, the project proved too ambitious and was split in two. Collins worked at the TextielLab in Tilburg, Netherlands, switching to a lighter yarn after a failed trial, and ultimately brought the finished works to New York in duffel bags before curator Adriano Pedrosa selected them for the Biennale. The textiles depict mountain ranges emitting rainbows through dark skies, exploring themes of duality—danger and joy, precarity and euphoria.
This article matters because it highlights Collins's upcoming survey exhibition at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum (opening July 19, 2025), which coincides with MoMA's "Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction" featuring three of her works. It underscores the growing institutional recognition of fiber art and queer themes in contemporary art, as well as the physical and mental endurance required to create such labor-intensive pieces. Collins's career, spanning wearable garments, performance collectives, and large-scale weavings, exemplifies the intersection of craft, identity, and fine art.