Written by: Edo Franić
Photos: David Popa
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Have you ever thought about how works of art do not actually last forever? Just as old newspapers can crumble into fragile, yellowed pieces, the same thing happens in many cases with art. Materials such as paper, textiles, and pigments naturally deteriorate over the years, and exposure to light accelerates the process.
For example, none of the paintings left to us by the famous Edvard Munch will last forever. Many were already fragile when they entered the collection of the museum dedicated to this great artist. Perhaps it would have been ideal to store them in a cold, dark environment to slow down their decay, but instead they decided to exhibit them, even though this means that the colors on those paintings will likely look different to our grandchildren than they do today.
Many other works of art will meet a similar fate—a fate their creators surely did not consider when making them. But there is one contemporary artist who knows precisely that his works will fall apart, and even roughly when, but that is exactly his intention. His name is David Popa.
An artist of Romanian origin, Popa creates intricate and astonishing land art installations that challenge our perception of nature and the environment. His works are inspired by the natural world and often use organic materials from the surrounding landscape. Land art, or earth art, is a movement in contemporary art that developed in the 1960s and 1970s in America as a reaction against the commercialization of art. This art leaves museums and galleries and develops monumental projects in open space. The inspirations behind the rise of land art were conceptual art and minimalism.
David Popa developed his remarkable collection in Finland because, as he says, it would be unimaginable and impossible to pursue this kind of art in his native New York. Truth be told, love also played its part. He first visited Finland during the summer of his freshman year of college to build a street art portfolio, as there are many opportunities for that in Helsinki where walls are designated for legal mural painting. In the end, he fell in love with a Finnish woman; the following year he moved there and proposed to her (he now has three children).
Popa works both on land and at sea, especially on fragmented Baltic ice floes, to create large portraits and figurative murals that connect the transience of human life with that of the environment. Whether he is creating intimate depictions of his wife or his newborn child, he emphasizes the inevitability of change as time passes, the seasons shift, and the Earth warms.
Specifically, when working on ice floes, David Popa draws ephemeral portraits that break apart and drift away in pieces floating in the sea.
Popa’s use of ice floes—these unconventional canvases—came from his desire for adventure and childlike play: he put on a dry suit, climbed onto a paddleboard, and dared to face that frozen mass.
“These spaces were so mysterious and so interesting. I drew an enormous amount of inspiration from going to those sublime places,” says the artist.
Because many of his works are destined to melt and be reabsorbed, Popa uses exclusively natural materials. Instead of relying on synthetic or artificial media, he creates his installations (both on land and at sea) using rocks, stones, soil, and other organic substances. His works always emerge through the use of natural pigments from the area he is working in—charcoal, ground shells, and the like. By using such pigments, Popa connects with the past, creating art in much the same way as cave people once did.
Most importantly, this allows the work to blend seamlessly into the natural environment, as if it had always been there. For example, he uses white chalk from the Champagne region, ochre from France and Italy, and powdered charcoal that he produces himself. The latter also plays a small role in purifying water, leaving it cleaner than before.
In addition, the use of natural materials creates a sense of impermanence, since the installation will ultimately disappear and return to the earth. This ephemerality is a central theme in Popa’s work; through it, he seeks to emphasize the transient nature of life and the beauty that can be found within that transience.
He says most pieces take between three and six hours to complete, with working time depending on weather, temperature, and sea conditions.
“Charcoal will sink into the ice and fade from very dark to a medium shade, so you have to work very quickly and document the painting as soon as possible. Not to mention that working on the ice, the piece may simply crack apart and vanish completely, or the next day snow might fall and cover it entirely. I’m constantly battling the elements,” explains David.
Still, Popa consciously and calmly accepts this cyclical process and his lack of control over the fate of his works, which he preserves only through stunning aerial photographs. Broadly reflecting themes of existence and time, some of his murals—such as Prometheus and Remnants of the Past—also highlight shifts in aesthetic impulses. By imitating Greek sculptures, the works appear “washed ashore,” and by drawing a link between antiquity and the present, they emphasize differences in how beauty is perceived.
One of the most striking aspects of Popa’s work is the scale at which he operates. His installations are often immense, spanning hectares of land and requiring entire teams of volunteers to help in their construction. This fosters a sense of community and collaboration that is rare in the world of contemporary art. These large-scale works allow viewers to experience nature in a new and profound way, immersing themselves in both the landscape and the artwork itself. The overall effect is one of peace and stillness, as if the viewer has stumbled upon a hidden oasis in the midst of wilderness.
“One of David Pope’s most well-known series is the one called Fractured. It is a project located on various glaciers in southern Finland. Using only soil, charcoal, and spring water, he created a series of portraits on broken ice floes that lasted only a short time. His works were documented through drone video, and the project developed as a response to the war in Ukraine, which further emphasized the image of fractured ice.
One of the things that makes Popa’s work so compelling is its universality. The themes of impermanence, transience, and the beauty of the natural world are universal—Popa’s work speaks equally to audiences all over the globe. This universality has enabled him to exhibit his work at international exhibitions and festivals, further expanding his reach and influence.
Despite the ephemeral nature of his installations, Popa’s work has a lasting impact on those who experience it. His installations are often captured in photographs and videos, allowing them to be shared with a wider audience and inspiring others to create their own land art works.
One of David’s videos shows him standing alone on several large pieces of floating ice, painting a face. In the video, he uses only charcoal, water, and a bit of salt to help the work stay on the surface a little longer. Soon after he begins, the ice splits in half, forcing David to work faster, but in the end he still runs out of time to complete the painting as he had envisioned.
While working on another piece in the Fractured series, he encountered the same problem of ice breaking apart. After struggling to keep everything together, he realized he had no control over the ice and that everything had to follow its natural course.
“The final result is equally beautiful and even carries a deeper meaning about the constant changes in the nature around us, reminding us that as humans, we may not always be able to decide everything about life in the way we hope…,” says Popa.
