dimensions variable; mobile: twelve double-sided collages and visual poems (found imagery, found text, glue, pencils, metal, embroidery floss, altered photographs, transparency film, vellum, and an instant photo), string, and metal hoops; 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Fragment as Verse
at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
11 April-16 May 2026
World Collage Day & Second Saturday, 9 May 2026, 6-8PM
Kolaj LIVE Online: Poetry on the Wall: Fragment as Verse
Thursday, 14 May 2026, 7-9PM EDT (2300 UTC)
LEARN MORE AND RSVP
How does this work at the intersection of poetry and collage operate on the gallery wall? In the exhibition, “Fragment as Verse,” we bring together twelve artists, poets, and writers whose work provides us an answer to that question.
A floating mobile of twelve double-sided collages and visual poems by Knoxville, Tennessee author and artist Anika Toro considers “the tension between what is visible and what is implied, and in how small edits to either the text or the visuals can open new interpretations of each other.” A found work cut-up by Lancaster, Pennsylvania artist Caitlin Downs reflects the layers of paint and paper one finds in the urban landscape. A collage by Silver Spring, Maryland poet, artist, and scholar Leslie Polk is a cornerstone piece for a larger ekphrastic project that will include a collection of seven spoken poems and a play. A found letter poem by Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada collagist Jessa Dupuis, the 2026 World Collage Day Poster Artist, is rooted in a philosophy of persistent joy and beauty that works like a salve in these troubled times.
diptych, 14″x11″ each; denim fabric, purple craft paper, white thread, jute twine, Samuel Lewis and Aaron Arrowsmith’s 1805 map of Louisiana (Purchase) and Swanston Map Archive of India in 1805 on kraft paper; magazine fragments on canvas board with poems written on drink coasters with acrylic marker; 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
Some of the artwork on view draws from history. A diptych by Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada poet and writer Jamal-e-Fatima Rafat uses poetry, collage, and assemblage to reflect on the history of indigo cultivation in Louisiana under the French and in India under the British. Brooklyn, New York artist and writer S. Erin Batiste‘s Paper Bag Belle series originated from her November 2022 trip to New Orleans, where she participated in the Kolaj Institute’s artist lab “City as Archive” and conducted research at the New Orleans Public Library. The series reflects on the history and legacy of the “Brown Paper Bag Test.”
18.5″x24.5″; pages from Good Housekeeping Young Homemakers Guide, POTUS printed toilet paper, acrylic gel medium, images from books and magazines, personal photos, printed tissue paper, markers, pens, pencils; 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
Artists are responding to the present political moment. The process of Olympia, Washington artist Teri Bevelacqua is rooted in poetry and writing. Her art is an “ongoing conversation with the world and my anger at the current administration and the list of crimes they have committed and are committing.” Jennifer Roche‘s choice of working with the physical game, Jenga, as a substrate for collage and poetry emerged from a desire to express the sense of tension, collapse, resistance, and possibility occurring in the United States in 2026 through a widely recognized household game.
16.5″x11.25″; mid-20th century popular magazine, home design manual, found photograph, wallpaper on cardstock; 2026. Courtesy of the artist.
The artwork on view speaks to contemporary issues. A work by Detroit, Michigan author Michael Lisieski considers the practicalities of domestic life in housing collective. His A New Guide to Rational Living is a poem within a poem that speaks to how “it’s a powerful and challenging political act to love someone in prison.” In a third work, a playful domestic scene becomes the site of an erotic fantasy about a robot.
11″x17″; envelopes, stamp and postmark, magazine images, gift card, poem by author on hand-made paper; 2025-2026. Courtesy of the artist.
And artwork is speaking to personal experiences. A poellage by Woodstock, Vermont artist and writer Heather Wishik is part of a larger series that is a “visual and verbal memoir of childhood in poetry and collage.” St. Paul, Minnesota artist Adriana Gordillo uses photography, collage, and poetry to share her experience of being a woman without children. A blackout poem by Ric Kasini Kadour is a meditation on home and displacement.
Kolaj Institute’s PoetryXCollage project explores and documents the intersection of poetry and collage through a series of residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and PoetryXCollage, a printed journal of artwork and writing that operates at the intersection. In 2026, we hosted two artist residencies, the virtual “The Elusive X” hosted by Jennifer Roche and the in-person “Fragment as Verse”. Each brought together poets and collagists to make artwork and consider how artwork and writing situates itself at the medium. “Fragment as Verse” is the first exhibition of the PoetryXCollage project.
ABOUT KOLAJ INSTITUTE
The mission of Kolaj Institute is to support artists, curators, and writers who seek to study, document, and disseminate ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. We operate a number of initiatives meant to bring together community, investigate critical issues, and raise collage’s standing in the art world.
ABOUT KOLAJ INSTITUTE GALLERY IN NEW ORLEANS
Kolaj Institute’s Gallery in New Orleans presents exhibitions and connects Kolaj Institute and the artists we work with to the vibrant St. Claude Arts District. We produce 8-10 exhibitions a year and participate in Second Saturday, the neighborhood’s monthly art walk, putting the collage art, books and exhibitions in front of New Orleanians and visitors. The Gallery is located at 2374 Saint Claude Avenue, Suite 230, at the corner with St. Roch Avenue on the 2nd floor. The marked door is on Saint Claude, look for the sandwich board sign when we are open. The Gallery is open Thursday-Saturday, Noon-6PM or by appointment.