Imagination is the root of empathy. Who or what are we without trying to understand others and the natural world? Eighteen years ago, I wrote an artist statement that rings as true to me now as it did then.
We have to negotiate with the flowers,
We have to talk to our dogs,
We have to pet our lambs – or we are liars.
Everything is growing up so fast.
Our puny bodies are nothing to the stakes of the sky
And the clock ticks in the mountain.
We have to think about this or grow dumb.
For me, making art is the practice and unfolding of empathy. A kind of prayer for humanity. A way to give form to something that I do not understand. It momentarily makes some sort of sense of the mystery and stalls it in time to further contemplate.
Painting is an act of love and faith. Painting is a kind of prayer and protest that says, I am here and remain hopeful while hate seems to prevail.
This series from the past two years uses form to sum up reoccurring feelings from my personal history as well as the desire to connect with something beyond what I can comprehend. I hope the paintings create a space for reflection of a shared human experience.
Kelly Popoff
2025