Artist in Residence 2018: Elias Popa Part 1

Elias Popa

Credits:

Curated by:

Spark & Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2018

2018

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March 12, 2018

I think we are all familiar with the plight of Job and God’s terrifying responding questions of Job’s understanding. For me, this passage provides such a revealing of God’s mystery. When reading those scriptures, I always feel like God lets us in on a small fraction of his complex and labyrinth-like heart. It’s uncomfortably narrow and sometimes violent. Wild. Frightening. Claustrophobic. But as we follow through this squeezing, we resign to the terrible holiness of God. That done, we find that upon passing through these narrow passages, God leads us to the Centre of His heart which is wider, more encompassing and peaceful than the entire universe.

VIEW: Project Proposal Mock Up for Spark+Echo Arts

It is by passing through this ‘tightness of fitting’ that our perspective of the world changes to one of radical sameness. Although nothing has changed in that we are still very much in our current circumstances, the world is made new—revealed as filled with unceasing opportunities.

Spark Notes

The Artist's Reflection

Elias Popa was born April 7, 1987 to Romanian immigrants in California. After traveling between his home in Romania and throughout the United States, he continued his travels into his adulthood by moving to China, traveling Southeast Asia, South America and working with refugees. During his travels around the world, his worldview in art was deeply impacted.

“My art expresses the struggle of identity and hope, worship and expressions of life. It explores common world views and challenges them. My work shines a light on the temporal solutions we put in place to replace what we really need deep inside”.

As an installation artist, Elias uses conventional materials such as paper, wire, thread, and clothing to evoke a deeper understanding about social structures. His aim is to solidify abstract ideas about the nuances that make up sociological structures. By doing so, he retrains the eye to build a visual literacy again and treats the art as a fundamental language. He also studied dark room photography for 10 years, as well as writes poetry.

Through his art, Elias started The Human Rights Network, a non for profit organization aimed at “telling stories that change lives.” The organization aims to build narratives through art that can impact social issues and generate activism. He currently works as a curator and manager of the esteemed Waterfall Mansion and Gallery on the Upper East Side, as well as the founder of the Human Rights Network. He resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he works out of his home. He was the recipient of CFW’s artist vocational intensive, held at Princeton University. He also was selected on an Interfaith and Arts Panel at Columbia University, as well as regular participates in speaking engagements.