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Petra Collins Quotes

Powerful Petra Collins for Daily Growth

From the beginning of puberty, I did really badly in school. I was super dyslexic; I was in special ed. I had a hard time reading and writing, so I thought that my self worth was in my looks, how I presented myself, and how other people perceived me.

- Petra Collins

Beginning, Other, Badly, My Self

I don't know what I would've done without it. I really struggled in school with reading and writing. Art was my refuge - my way of speaking, of dealing with my own issues and connecting with the world.

- Petra Collins

Art, Dealing, Refuge, My Own

As a young woman, I was disturbed by the fact that there was no imagery that truly expressed the experience of a young woman and the challenges and turbulence we go through. All we had were teenage magazines like 'Cosmopolitan,' which are very one-sided and show an objectified view of women.

- Petra Collins

Woman, Through, Very, Turbulence

I think it's important for not just me but women of color, trans women, and people who are marginalized to be telling stories of themselves. It's important for us to be behind the lens.

- Petra Collins

Think, Behind, Telling, Marginalized

There's definitely a romanticism of youth, like, everywhere. Specifically with women, they kind of only exist between the age of 15 to 25.

- Petra Collins

Youth, Kind, Like, Romanticism

I think the gender norms of emotion are horrendous. Being masculine means showing zero emotions, but having the choice to be angry or depressed. Being female means you are one dimensional - if you show more than that, you are a psycho, hysterical, or historically, a witch.

- Petra Collins

Gender, Show, I Think, Witch

I came to New York with no money and just one suitcase. I had my family's emotional support, but they weren't able to help me financially.

- Petra Collins

New, Emotional, Had, Suitcase

A good jean that fits someone's butt right is just amazing. It's just classic.

- Petra Collins

Amazing, Classic, Someone, Jean

Women's emotions are constantly labeled. Any slight deviation from 'pleasantness,' and we are labeled as hysterical. When we are angry, sad, depressed, or manic, we are immediately seen as unfeminine or ugly or weak.

- Petra Collins

Emotions, Slight, Labeled, Deviation

I'm obviously a white woman with privilege. I want to make sure I always collaborate with people who aren't like me so we can create a work that isn't one dimensional.

- Petra Collins

Woman, Always, Sure, Collaborate

When I was growing up, my parents would apologize when we didn't have enough money for something. I'd always tell them that it was O.K. and that I had learned to work hard because of them.

- Petra Collins

Growing, Tell, Had, Enough Money

My style motto is pretty classic: you give off a positive energy when you wear what you're most comfortable in.

- Petra Collins

Give, Pretty, Wear, Energy

When I was 16, I created this online platform for female artists. I messaged women who I loved; that's how I got work and connected with people. You don't need to plead for entry into a system that doesn't want you anyway.

- Petra Collins

Platform, Got, Anyway, Plead

My lens and my personality, it's just fluid. The art isn't just in one place.

- Petra Collins

Art, Personality, Fluid, Lens

I keep this Hungarian wooden candlestick on the top of my refrigerator along with all my other candles. It's big and ugly, especially next to all my pretty candles, and it doesn't really make sense to have in my apartment.

- Petra Collins

Big, Next, Other, Hungarian

My mind is changing all the time. I can't live in a space that has a fixed aesthetic. I just need a blank slate when I come home.

- Petra Collins

Mind, Aesthetic, Blank, Fixed

I'm used to seeing women being degraded, slut shamed, harassed for what they look like. Even the most powerful women in the world are measured by their appearance and constantly ridiculed for it.

- Petra Collins

Like, Measured, Shamed, Harassed

I was depressed at a very young age - mental illness runs in my family, especially on the female side.

- Petra Collins

Young, Very, Side, Runs

I didn't see spaces where female artists could exist and exhibit their work. So I created a platform for this - one that allowed our works to be seen, but to also weave a community of women that could lean on and work with one another.

- Petra Collins

Another, Works, Allowed, Spaces

What's cool is when people send me messages or tag me in their photos, which definitely happens more after a project comes out. The best part, I think, is that the DMs and tags are always from young girls, and reaching them is the most important thing for me.

- Petra Collins

Young, I Think, Part, Best Part

I always had this feeling, what I wanted to do. I was trying to work out myself, my frustrations, my body. I couldn't really pinpoint. I started taking photos of my sister and her friends. I was 15, exploring what it meant to be a 15-year-old girl.

- Petra Collins

Body, Had, Photos, Frustrations

The feminist movement is way bigger than the word. I don't police people on what they call themselves, but equality and a general sense of togetherness are really important to me.

- Petra Collins

Togetherness, Bigger, Sense, General Sense

I know having a social media profile removed is a 21st century privileged problem - but it is the way a lot of us live. These profiles mimic our physical selves and a lot of the time are even more important. They are ways to connect with an audience, to start discussion, and to create change.

- Petra Collins

Media, Discussion, Our, Profiles

Oh my God. Brian De Palma. I love him.

- Petra Collins

Love, I Love, Oh My God, Brian

My mother struggled immensely with mental illness, and so did I. She grew up bipolar, but it was never diagnosed nor recognized. It was shrugged off like a 'symptom' of being female - of her being weak. I also experienced this growing up: I felt that the great pain I experienced was a dramatisation.

- Petra Collins

Mental, Immensely, Struggled, Diagnosed

With social media and all the new technology, there's just more interfaces around and reminders to constantly be working on our body.

- Petra Collins

New, Social, Reminders, New Technology

Social media has been such a big important thing for young artists and minorities because it's a community to get noticed. It's having an audience that was never there before.

- Petra Collins

Big, Audience, Been, Social Media

I did two years at art school in criticism and curatorial practice, but I dropped out because I was frustrated that there was this hierarchy where I couldn't do anything or ask questions.

- Petra Collins

Art, Practice, Frustrated, Art School

Curating, in the modern sense, is something I gravitate to. Taking different ideas from a bunch of different places and putting them into one place or space, a story that makes sense or a new idea. Everything is remixed and taken from other things to make something new.

- Petra Collins

Other, Gravitate, Putting, Different Ideas

My mom had been a script supervisor in Hungary, but you can't just jump into that in Canada without knowing any English. She worked retail jobs and raised my sister and me while learning English.

- Petra Collins

Mom, Been, Had, Hungary

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