Whats My Thesis?

This week on What’s My Thesis?, host Javier Proenza is joined in-person by multidisciplinary artist Gerald Collins, whose practice illuminates the intersection of architecture, chromotherapy, and community. Based in Detroit, Collins returns to the show for a candid and expansive conversation that moves through memory, material, and meaning with striking clarity. Spanning topics from childhood sketchbooks to large-scale light installations, this episode traces Collins’s journey from the east side of Detroit to Topanga Canyon and back again—both physically and philosophically. The artist reflects on the deep roots of his creative practice, from early encouragement during “bring your kid to work” days, to being admitted as a first grader into an upperclassmen art program, where he began printmaking and working with chalk pastel on a collegiate level. As Collins explains, his formative artistic influence stemmed from early exposure to Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods, and later, a deep investigation into chromothe