Meet Natalie

A little bit about the woman behind the collages.

I've always been drawn to things with a past.

Old photographs. Faded paper. Antique illustrations. Forgotten objects. Stories that have been passed down so many times that they've gathered a little dust and mystery along the way. I love the feeling that something ordinary can hold a history—and that, with a little imagination, that history can become something entirely new.

I'm a Louisiana artist, wife, and mom, creating mixed media collage from my studio in North Louisiana. My work brings together the things I've always been fascinated by: storytelling, folklore, femininity, history, and the strange beauty of the South.

My love of making things goes back further than I realized. My grandmother was a painter who created her work on old roof shingles, and I think some part of that spirit stayed with me—the idea that art can come from unexpected places and that an old, overlooked thing can become something worth keeping.

I studied English and Anthropology at LSU before earning a master's degree in the Teaching of Writing from Humboldt State University. Looking back, those two fields make perfect sense for the artist I've become. I've always been interested in the stories people tell, the symbols we create, and the ways those stories shape how we understand ourselves and the world around us.

Collage became the perfect language for all of that.

I begin with fragments—sometimes beautiful, sometimes strange, sometimes completely unrelated—and slowly build them into something with its own story. I work both digitally and by hand, combining vintage imagery and found ephemera with printed elements, paint, fabric, beads, feathers, and whatever else a piece seems to ask for. Nothing is quite what it was when I found it.

And neither are the stories.

The collections

Rather than creating one piece at a time without connection, I tend to work in collections. Each series gives me a world to wander through for a while.

Some take me into the strange magic of the Louisiana bayou. Others explore the nursery rhymes and stories we absorbed as children, or the complicated ways women have been portrayed throughout history. My newest series, Daughters of Eve, turns toward mythology, devotion, and the many ways women can reclaim the stories that have been told about them.

The subjects may change, but I'm always looking for that same thing: the story hiding underneath the surface.

From my studio to yours

¡Fifi Gi! Storied Collage Art began in 2022, named after my two daughters, Gigi and Phoebe. What started as a creative pursuit has grown into a body of work that I'm incredibly proud to share—with collectors, fellow artists, galleries, and anyone who happens to find their way into my little corner of the world.

I still get excited when I find the perfect old photograph or a strange little scrap of paper. I still have far too many boxes of ephemera. And I still don't always know where a piece is going when I begin it.

That's part of the fun.

Thank you for stepping into my studio. I hope you'll stay awhile.