Discover True Nature by Daniel Popper

RosaNegra's Bohemian Square hides a new work of art called "True Nature" created by international artist Daniel Popper. 

Daniel Popper is a South African artist who has left his mark all over the world with his incredible pieces, one of the most well known is “Ven a la luz” in Tulum, Transmission in Joshua Tree in California and Thrive in Florida, to mention a few. 

If you want to discover more about the inspiration behind "True Nature", read on.

Can you tell us more about your creative process

One of my favorite quotes, is by Pablo Picasso, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”

For me the creative process goes hand in hand with sitting down and doing the work. Often it can start with just a small idea, without an end point or story in mind, but as you work on it, and develop it, you then find the story or inspiration that takes you onwards to the final piece. I typically start with sketch work, which then leads on to the 3 D modelling process, after that I work closely with structural designers to see how we can bring the vision to life in the real world. The entire process can take from 6-8 months to reach a completed work.

Can you share more info about the materials used, techniques and other interesting specifics?

The work is made from a Steel Subframe, and GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete). We fabricate the pieces off-site, and then ship, install, and finish on site.

How do you feel working in cities like Tulum and Cancun? What do you like the most about the Mexican Caribbean?

I have always loved both the beauty and culture of Mexico. The beaches and coastlines are gorgeous, the art and history of the country spans back centuries, and is always inspiring. And, of course, who doesn’t like mezcal.

Share a little bit of your vision for future projects and how you connect with different spaces or cities to create.

At the moment we are working on a variety of projects that are going to be installed across the world. From Brazil, to Mexico, to Indonesia, Cyprus and the USA. Each space is different, and part of the process of creating the pieces is going to visit the spaces during the design process and trying to get a sense of what would feel right at each individual site. Though we try not to talk too much about our future projects until they are installed, one that I am quite excited about is the expansion of the exhibition Human + Nature  exhibition at The Morton Arboretum near Chicago, which will be on display till 2023.

What do you want people to feel when they look at your sculpture in Cancun?  

I try not press for any inherent vision or story for a viewer to take when they look at my work, as once your work has been placed into the public domain, in many ways the ownership of interpretation transfers to the viewer rather than forcing the viewer to see the piece through the artist’s lens. Though what I would hope is that the work makes an individual connection with them and invokes them to feel something. That is what any artist hopes.