I Feel Thy Footsteps with My Skin, 2024
Yelena Popova works in a variety of media, including painting, textiles, video, and installation. Growing up in a secret Soviet town, she frequently explores themes related to nuclear heritage and critically examines society’s relentless pursuit of industrial progress.
In her painting practice, Popova embraces natural pigments, soil mixtures, Permian clay, and other found organic materials, rejecting any art supplies made from petrochemical products. Instead of traditional paints, she turns to the earth, creating pigments from soil and natural elements—a process she developed during a year-long residency at Girton College, University of Cambridge, in 2016. She views this approach as a way of reclaiming ancient materials, linking her work to history and rooting it in deep time.
In her painting practice, Popova embraces natural pigments, soil mixtures, Permian clay, and other found organic materials, rejecting any art supplies made from petrochemical products. Instead of traditional paints, she turns to the earth, creating pigments from soil and natural elements—a process she developed during a year-long residency at Girton College, University of Cambridge, in 2016. She views this approach as a way of reclaiming ancient materials, linking her work to history and rooting it in deep time.