May 6, 2025
Poppies in the Wrong Place
A conversation with collage artist and illustrator Lola Dupre
Lately, we’ve been mesmerized by paper collages of cats, dogs, foxes, and other creatures—some with too many eyes, extra limbs, or faces bending in impossible ways. They’re surreal, disjointed, and quietly emotional. And they’re all the work of collage artist and illustrator Lola Dupre. Her work has appeared everywhere from gallery walls to magazine pages, touching on themes like identity, animals, and the oddities of being human—with features in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, and beyond.
Lola’s collages don’t look so much created as unearthed—uncanny fragments arranged with obsessive care, like memories pieced together from a dream. Her process is entirely analog, but her work often feels digitally glitched, caught somewhere between centuries. Victorian portraiture, animal companions, and surreal warps of time and face recur across her pieces, which feel both delicate and disorienting—in the best kind of uncanny way.
We spoke with Lola—currently living with a rescue cat named Charlie—about distortion as emotional language, the mystery of misplaced poppies, and what she’s dreaming up next.
F: Furrend LD: Lola Dupre
F: Your collages often feel both surreal and intimate, almost like they’re whispering memories from a dream. What draws you to distortion, and what does it help you express that realism can’t?
LD: I suppose the most interesting aspects of dreams are when things are not quite right. Maybe it is abnormal things that help us appreciate and love the normal. If my work feels intimate, warm, I am happy, thank you. What I am expressing is my inner journey. My works are footsteps towards a goal shrouded in mist.
F: Your work features all kinds of animals—why animals? Do you live with any? If yes, please tell us everything about them.
LD: I like animals, someone said you could tell a lot about a person by how they interact with animals. True, I guess, though you can also tell a lot about a person by how they tie their shoelaces.
We have a rescue cat, his name is Charlie. We rescued him when he was 8 years old, and he is now 15. I made a few portraits of him (https://loladupre.com/charlie), and he has an Instagram page (@charliebylola). He used to be quite severe, but now he is much softer. He had food allergies we were not aware of, which took a few years to figure out. Now he spends most of his time sleeping in front of the fire.
We also have a wire fox terrier cross that we adopted. He moves too fast to photograph or even talk about!
F: You use such a meticulous, analog technique, but the effect feels strangely digital. How do you think about the relationship between tradition and tech in your work?
LD: I grew up admiring a lot of artists working in photography and painting, like Hieronymus Bosch, Max Ernst, Jean-Paul Goude, Dora Kallmus, artists who made work that you could see, hold and observe the original physical creation in a gallery. Now I am inspired equally by the digital world, I love digital images, digital art, and generated images. I suppose with digital art, the resolution could be infinite, which might be more difficult with analog art. So I really admire this aspect. The scope for growth.
Another aspect of this relationship would be the simple fact that I grew up making everything, with super-8 film, with paint and pens, words, images, and now paper, but I make a living by accessing the digital world and sharing my images digitally.
F: Victorian aesthetics and Art Nouveau show up subtly in your style. What is it about that era that resonates with you? Do you ever find yourself resisting those influences or leaning into them more over time?
LD: I try to keep myself open to many influences. I do not resist anything. Sometimes I am drawn into Victorian photos or pre-Raphaelite art. But the next day, I am looking at Northern Renaissance imagery or fashion photography of the recent decades.
F: What was the last image, scene, or idea that made you want to create something, even if you haven’t made it yet?
LD: I am currently reading some stories by Isaac Balshevis Singer, they have been inspiring me. I have so many images I would like to create. I will be working on some portraits shortly, which are at least in part inspired by his rich descriptions.
F: What’s something small or strange that you find yourself obsessing over lately?
LD: Where some poppies are growing, strangely distant to where I scattered the seeds. In the most awkward of places, where they appear doomed to be knocked over. They make large, beautiful flowers that only survive for a couple of days. As is life, largely a chaotic experience.
F: What's something we wouldn’t learn about you from reading your bio - something unexpected or offbeat?
LD: I have ties to Spain. Slowly, I am making plans to return to Spain after having lived in the UK for the last few years.
F: Any upcoming shows or projects we should keep an eye out for?
LD:
Open now, Dreamland Awaits with BBW | Corey Helford Gallery | Los Angeles, USA
Opening in September, KNOTENPUNKT | Affenfaust Galerie | Hamburg, Germany
Opening September, Again & Again | Gallery Ergo | Seattle, USA
Opening April 2026, Return to Beauty with BBW | Outre Gallery | Melbourne, Australia
Whether she’s slicing paper or spotting poppies in all the wrong places, Lola’s world is one where nothing is quite as it seems—and that’s exactly what makes it worth a second, third, or tenth look.
We thank Lola for sharing her story with us. You can follow Lola on Twitter and Instagram, and visit her website.
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