Karen Collins is a self-taught narrative miniaturist — a creator of small objects — who learned by trial and error. Collins was born in 1950 in Indianapolis and raised by a single mother of five. Her family struggled but were close-knit. Collins is also a product of the civil rights movement, witnessing and participating in marches, sit-ins, and Black Panther community meetings and has carried this practice of activism into her adulthood. These experiences, including being jailed during a school walk out, taught Collins about the struggle of attaining civil rights as well as the value of community, which continues to influence her creative practice. In 1971, after graduating from high school, she moved to Inglewood, California and has called Compton home for over twenty years. From 1974–1987, Collins was a stay-at-home mother of two. Her journey in the arts began later in life.

Deeply informed by the African-American tradition of making something out of nothing, Collins would find miniatures and take them apart to see how they work. This is how she learned little tricks and became a maker rather than a consumer. For the last twenty seven years, she has honed her craft and has been documenting and telling Black history and culture through dioramas placed in shadow boxes. Collins’ art started as a way to deal with grief due to the incarceration of her son. She believes this art form saved her life, giving her a renewed sense of purpose. Through her artistic community engagement, she has worked to bring clarity and vibrance in the storytelling of Black history and to contribute to her community’s knowledge of self. Collins has created more than 100 dioramas to date.