Collins' works treat the collective experiences of memory, history and the everyday in the modern world.
Collins studied at Slade School of Fine Arts in London (1974–78) and in USA on a Fulbright Scholarship (1978–79).
Her work incorporates notions of otherness, time, loss and transformation, and spans historical narratives, still lives and occasional portraits within an expanded field of photography.
Besides her activity as a plastic artist, she has taught in schools such as the University of California at Davis, and the Royal College of Art, London.
She was visiting professor at Le Fresnoy, Studio nacional des Arts Contemporains, Roubaix, in 2007–08.