Be Gay, Do Collage at Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2025

SYMPOSIUM AT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS 2025

Be Gay, Do Collage

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Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, 25-29 June 2025. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.

In a 2019 paper delivered at the University of Oxford’s Queer Modernism(s) conference (and published by the Collage Research Network), Daniel Fountain wrote, “Collage and appropriation, as [Hannah] Höch’s practice demonstrates, is ripe for this material work; taking fragments of culture and reinterpreting dominant cultural norms to produce queer associations. This ‘queerness’ then is not necessarily based on an artwork’s content (although this is sometimes the case) but the very method of collage making makes use of queer concepts; such as humour and camp, inversion and reversal, excess and extremes.” Höch met Mathilda ‘Til’ Brugman in 1926 through their mutual friends Kurt and Helma Schwitters and began a decade-long romantic relationship with the Dutch writer and linguist. When the Nazis labeled her art “degenerate”–a category reserved for artwork that they felt was an “insult to German feeling”–Höch went into seclusion only to reappear after the fall of the Third Reich. Höch stated that the goal of her work was to “erase the boundaries that we humans have falsely erected around everything that surrounds us” and “experiment with themes of domesticity, gender and sexuality, utilising the collage technique to indeed erase the boundaries.” In Fountain’s artist practice, Höch’s artwork led them “to move away from the physical representation of sexual bodies, becoming more concerned with the role of the found object and how consider how material alone might be queered, or used queerly–such as in the case of trash objects or marginalised materials like scraps of fabric.” This begs a question, what makes a collage queer? 

In this session, we will consider queer collage and how artists are using collage to ask, “What does it mean to be a queer person in the 21st century?” Ric Kasini Kadour will present a brief historical survey and speak about his “Grinder Collages” that speak to the consumerism of gay chat apps and the experience of body dysphoria, shame and anxiety over perceived imperfect bodies. He will also speak about the work of the Brayden Shayne artist collective, “a multi-faceted creative endeavor: a magazine; art products; events; film; and sounds that explore queer art and thought and general faggotry”, which works towards an art that challenges ideas of what queer art can be. They wrote, “What we don’t like is run-of-the-mill figurative works of two naked dudes coquettishly gazing at each other and gay pride signs that could have been sold at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.”

We will also hear from New York City artist Tiffany Dugan whose work explores “the ever-evolving cycles connected to self- and social-identity.” She wrote, “My focus is on the female and lesbian experience, which I examine through a kaleidoscope of color and movement. By exposing internal experience, I aim to create work that is abstract, rhythmic, and boldly feminine with an edge.” In 2024, Dugan started a series that investigated “lesbian identity beyond the physical body, presenting a nuanced study of experience, interiority, and intimacy through collage. The work’s focus is deeply personal and conceptual. By excluding imagery of the physical body, the collages move beyond assumptions about sexuality or relationships, instead addressing an interior experience of lesbian identity. The compositions layer color and abstract forms to evoke a cyclical ebb and flow that expose the tension between softness and edge that often accompanies aging and femme presentation. My journey as a lesbian since 1990, coupled with the challenges of societal assumptions and desired visibility, informed the series. Collage, with its inherent flexibility and layering, became the perfect medium to navigate the question and build a conversation between disparate elements until harmony emerged.”

In The Queer Art of Failure, Jack Halberstam advocates for antidisciplinary forms of knowing. “Terms like serious and rigorous,” Halberstam points out, “tend to be code words…for disciplinary correctness; they signal a form of training and learning that confirms what is already known according to approved methods of knowing, but they do not allow for visionary insights or flights of fancy.” While it is evident that collage as a medium is beginning to emerge from the shadows of more historically dominant art forms, Halberstam would caution the collagist against taking tried and true paths to success: “Being taken seriously means missing out on the chance to be frivolous, promiscuous, and irrelevant.” Chattanooga, Tennessee artist Rowan Buffington is currently developing an exhibition that is rooted in these ideas. They will speak about their exhibition premise and how “as collage achieves success, it should preserve its subversive potential.”  

Symposium at Kolaj Fest New Orleans

Symposium sessions at Kolaj Fest New Orleans bring together a group of artists who speak about a central theme. Artists, writers, academics, and curators present slideshows which are followed by a Question & Answer period.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Rowan Buffington teaches Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, where he served as head of the department for six years. They hold an MFA from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. Buffington’s work has been featured in numerous curated exhibitions, including at Watkins College of Art and the Cheekwood Museum in Nashville, Tennessee; the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee; Muse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Gray Contemporary in Houston, Texas. They have also participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta; Mudhouse in Agios Ioannis, Crete; SÍM (Reykjavik) and Fjúk (Husavik) in Iceland; the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson; Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York; and Kolaj Institute Collage Artist Residency in Sanquhar, Scotland. Learn more at www.ronbuffington.com. 

Originally from a California “creek-town” and now living in New York City, Tiffany Dugan holds a BA in Literature from Sarah Lawrence College and an MS in Organizational Change Management from The New School, with continuing studies at the Women’s Studio Workshop, The Center for Book Arts, The Art Students League, and the National Academy. She has exhibited her work in over 30 solo and group shows in New York, as part of “Amuse-Bouche” at LeMieux Galleries during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2024, and the National Collage Society’s 2024 juried exhibition. Her work has also been featured in seven literary magazines and is held in collections in the US and Europe. She was a 2020 Diderot Artist-in-Residence at The Chateau d’Orquevaux International Artists & Writers Residency. She also received the 2019 Sarah Lawrence Gurfein Fellowship in Creative Non-Fiction. She is the director of the Chuck Dugan artist estate and has a background in events and constituency engagement in arts non-profits and higher education. Learn more at the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory and www.tiffanydugan.com.

Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. The project was recognized with a National Heritage Award in Ireland.

At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. In 2023, Kadour curated “Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” at the Knoxville Museum of Art (March 17-May 7), after being previously presented in September 2022 at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. During Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023, Kadour presented “Passing Place” at the Kolaj Institute Studio at The School Art Studios (June 2023) and “Amuse Bouche” (with Christy Wood) at LeMieux Galleries (June 2023, 2024, and 2025).

As Director of Kolaj Institute Gallery, in 2024, Kadour has presented: “Kolaj Institute Grand Opening Exhibition” (March 9-April 14, 2024); “Collage the Planet: Environmentalism in Art” (April 19-May 26, 2024); and “Magic in the Modern World” (June 1-August 11, 2024). “Advanced Wound Healing Techniques: Collage by Robbie Morgan (August 15-October 6, 2024); and “Temporal Geolocation: How Place & History Inform Identity in Collage” (October 11-November 24, 2024). Kadour also curated “S&WBNO Billing Issues: Collage by New Orleans Artists” at Second Story Gallery in New Orleans (June 8-July 6, 2024). In 2024, he led a collaboration with the New Orleans Photo Alliance exploring the intersection of photography and collage that lead to two exhibitions, “Where Photography Meets Collage” in June 2024 at NOPA Gallery and “Camera & Collage” at Kolaj Institute Gallery in December 2024 and January 2025. In 2025, at Kolaj Institute Gallery, Kadour curated “Joy & Grief: An Exhibition of Collage” (April 12-May 31, 2025).

Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans. www.rickasinikadour.com.

Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, 25-29 June 2025. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.