Big Orange Monster: An Emergency Exhibition

The Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans recently put out a call for art:

“You mix fear (yellow) and anger (red) and you get a Big Orange Monster. What’s the emergency? There are a lot of Big Orange Monsters on the loose. Monsters only have power if you are afraid of them. So let’s create a space where we can slay our fear of Big Orange Monsters. Art helps us exorcise our demons. Monsters can be glorious and wonderful or horrible and evil. Let’s not cast aside the good Big Orange Monsters because some other Big Orange Monsters are, well… unpleasant.”

This call immediately resonated with me—combining my love of collage and mail art into one outrageous orange opportunity. It felt like the perfect moment to wrestle with the larger-than-life figures that haunt our headlines and cast long shadows over the places where power resides.