Whiskers of a Kitten by Kitty Lever: Jagger van Vliet's Highlights

By JAGGER VAN VLIET, November 6, 2026. 

Every day for the last 6 months, Kitty Lever has been preparing for war. When being like “most girls” is a revolutionary act, Lever knows that you have to walk the walk—or run the run as it were.

Earlier in the summer, while staying at a friend's apartment in the Seaport, I began to notice a recurring character on my morning jog: a peroxide blonde, usually decked out in hot pink, and cruising at a staggering pace. This was Lever, training for the New York City Marathon, just one of many accomplishments she’s racked up in the last few months of 2026.
 

Inside Future FWD Gallery
 

On Friday, I visited Future FWD gallery for the release of Lever’s new poetry collection, “Whiskers of a Kitten.” Over the next week, Lever will also be presenting artwork made by herself and her partner, as a way of welcoming readers into the poetry book and her own revolutionary state of mind.

In the gallery’s foyer, a canvas covered in “Hi, my name is” stickers poked fun at those who dare to call Lever an “Instagram poet.” Nothing could be farther from the truth, evidenced by the genuinely nuanced gallery experience that waited beyond the entry.

Inside the main gallery, pages from Lever’s journals hung in perfect white frames. I took this to be almost ironic, considering most of the pages were splattered in paint, blue tape, and even scraps of spare denim. A big part of Lever’s wartime ethos is utter transparency; an earnest need to be understood through every creative outlet available.
 

Wonderland by Kitty Lever
 

Yes, Lever’s pages were frequently covered in scrawled odes to love, perseverance, and womanhood, but there was an undercurrent of militance to all of it; an urgency to show what living as a modern woman can really mean. This could be seen through repeated references to dolls and toy army men. Lever appeared to embody both, simultaneously a boisterous supermodel and guerrilla feminist.

At the end of a long hallway, I found a small TV monitor playing a short film titled “Wonderland.” This, too, was a Lever original, interpreting one of her poems into an ominously retro viewing experience. The actual poem hangs just inside the gallery, one of the few that were fully typed and not penned in Lever’s own distinct handwriting.

It’s Lever’s multitudes that officially solidified the gallery experience. You can watch her videos on Instagram and TikTok, and easily get the wrong impression. It took viewing Lever’s art, her love, her triumphs, and her failures in person to understand what a complex creator we’re dealing with.
 

Inside Future FWD Gallery
 

One of the last framed pages I read proclaims, “You will be: the hero, the villain, the damsel, the whore, the princess, the one that got away, the liar, the bystander, the savior, the clown, the wolf, the lamb. You will be flawed and you will be perfect.”

You heard her! Fall in, fresh-faced cadets! There’s a revolution to be had, and Kitty Lever doesn't tolerate a slow march. WM