Michael

Eble

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Michael Eble

Michael Eble’s work reimagines mid-century architecture in New Orleans through the lens of collage, exploring how the built environment reflects cultural and emotional histories of the South. His practice explores reconstruction, a process of cutting and rearranging that mirrors the evolution of cities themselves. In his collages, memory is not just preserved but remade, as fragments of color and texture come together to speak of place and time.

In the Words of the Artist

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In my recent work, I reconstruct and reimagine iconic mid-century architectural spaces within New Orleans, LA. The process of collage—cutting, rearranging, juxtaposing—mirrors how cities evolve. They’re never static. They’re always being reshaped by time, policy, culture, and human experience. Through collage, I aim to create a dialogue between past and present, between the promise of modernism and the realities of the South.

Collage is both a creative process and a conceptual foundation for my art practice. Sometimes it serves as a tool to generate ideas, and other times it becomes the final artwork itself. Through the acts of searching, shaping, and assembling, collage allows me to construct a dialogue between past and present—between the idealism of modernism and the complex realities of the American South.

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Recently, I have continued to explore Modern Regionalism in New Orleans, I began to notice many connections of the structures built during the postwar decades. These buildings weren’t simply exercises in style or form—they were deeply responsive to their surroundings. They took into account the climate, the culture, the materials available, and the rhythm of life in South Louisiana.

The work of Arturo Herrera and the sculptures of Martin Puryear deeply influence my approach to collage. Herrera’s fragmented forms and layered imagery echo the intuitive, abstract language I strive for—where meaning is suggested rather than declared. Puryear’s sculptural practice, rooted in craft and minimalism, inspires the structural and tactile aspects of my process. Both artists embrace ambiguity and allow form to lead content, encouraging me to trust material, gesture, and space as carriers of meaning in my own work.

I see collage as a way of honoring a sense of place. Communities often rally around structures that serve as cultural symbols and repositories of collective memory. In the South, architectural roots run deep, and when these buildings disappear, their loss is felt profoundly—whether it’s a beloved juke joint, a neighborhood restaurant, or a local bar. These places often encapsulate some of the most meaningful aspects of community life. For me, collage has become a kind of visual journaling—a way to preserve and reinterpret these spaces as I reflect on their significance over time. It’s a powerful vehicle for exploring memory, place, and the emotional connections we form with the built environment.

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I believe we are living in an era where digital media dominates nearly every aspect of creative production, and as a result, hands-on, analog materials are becoming less accessible. I'm still uncertain about relying on printed images from the internet to support my collage practice. Fortunately, my interest often centers on fields of color, which I hope will remain available in physical form. At the same time, I'm excited by the possibilities emerging from digital tools like Cricut cutters, laser cutters, and 3D printing—technologies that have the potential to push the medium of collage in new and innovative directions.

For me, there’s a beautiful sense of play that unfolds during the collage process. Sometimes a single scrap of paper—the negative cutout from a previous incision—can completely transform a composition. Those unexpected moments are what make working in collage so exciting. There are mornings when I sit down at my desk with a hot cup of coffee, and as I dive into the work, time seems to dissolve—the coffee grows cold, forgotten. It’s in those moments of deep focus and discovery that the balance between intuition and structure truly reveals itself. In many ways, this mirrors life itself: we’re constantly navigating family, home, work, and new experiences that push us beyond our routines. Collage has become the ideal medium for exploring that dynamic. After years of painting, I was drawn to the intimacy and accessibility of collage, and it has profoundly shifted my creative process over the past year.

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About the Artist

Michael Eble was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a BFA in painting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Michael currently serves as the Assistant Dean for the UL College of the Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Michael's artwork explores abstracted topography, prompting viewers to reflect on their own connections within their environments. His paintings and works on paper have been exhibited in numerous regional and national solo and group exhibitions, with recent shows in Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Michael has been awarded several grants and fellowships, including an Artspark Grant, Louisiana Project Grant, and an Advance Faculty Grant from UL Lafayette. He has also received multiple Imagine Fund Awards and Grant-in-Aid Awards from the University of Minnesota, a Residential Fellowship in 2008 from the Institute for Advanced Study, and additional grants and research funding from the McKnight Foundation, Lake Region Arts Council, Vermont Studio Center, Science Museum of Minnesota, and the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center. Michael Eble is currently represented by Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans, LA.

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