The Heroine’s Journey of Natasha Popova

What is the best thing that I love about my work?

Involvement in the world of Art, the opportunity to create, the opportunity to communicate with talented people. I have the privilege of communicating with art connoisseurs – collectors who are not only guardians of art, but also patrons of artists. These are incredibly interesting, erudite people, with a special perception and worldview. It gives me great pleasure to create in tandem with a collector; it is very important to feel the idea and realize it. This is a big preparatory process, I need to supplement my knowledge, create an image, draw it with a pencil on paper and then cut it out of a shapeless piece, breathe in part of my soul while working on an idea, this sometimes takes up to six months, as is the case with a miniature sculpture. My work and my passion is creating miniature sculpture, figurines that I carve from fossil mammoth ivory, rarely from boxwood.

It’s incredibly exciting to create and invent something new, mix styles, experiment, make inlays, create contrast with colored Urushi lacquers, add a little luxury with gold and silver.

What is my idea of happiness?

This is an internal state when a person is in harmony with himself, with his thoughts, desires, feelings, with nature, with the close circle in which a person lives. The greatest happiness is seeing my reflection in the eyes of my children, hearing children’s laughter, hugging a loved one. Happiness is ephemeral, it is only in the human soul.

What is my greatest fear?

Perhaps I am afraid of not being able to cope with the situation, especially for my children when they are sick. We live at the turn of the epoch, the world is changing and not always for the better: war, famine, devastation, death…

It’s really scary.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

Indecisiveness, I always feel like I might offend someone by refusing or not taking someone’s feelings into account.

Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?

It is difficult to single out one of the artists and sculptors who inspire admiration; there are many of them and I can write an ode of praise about each one! As a rule, outstanding people of Art created themselves, with amazing stories, sometimes through suffering. We see exhibitions, finished works, catalogues, but no one sees the tossing and torment of the artist, sometimes reaching the point of despair, libraries of books read, many sketches, sculptors’ bloody fingers, tired bent backs, to achieve success you need to do a lot of work!

I admire the paintings of Boris Vallejo – a hymn to the beauty of the human body, the work of this artist greatly influenced my life, I go to the gym.

I can spend hours looking at the works of Futaro Mitsuki; this artist created a special, unique style, an amazing mixture of the Japanese view of European art.

Tatyana Nikolova is an art critic who worked at the Hermitage for 3.5 years. Then in 2004 she received a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Culture and went to Japan for an internship. She studied at Tsukuba University, defended her Master’s in 2007, and her Doctor’s thesis on netsuke in 2010. I admire her courage to simultaneously learn Japanese and study Netsuke at the Japanese university Tsukuba!

Xavier Casalta – incredibly delicate flower compositions created by a myriad of dots.

Sculptor Philippe Faraut and his magnificent creations with characters are incredibly realistic!

I really like the miniature sculptures of Janel Jacobson; she creates surprisingly real toads and frogs from boxwood, and the shadow reliefs amaze me with their fabulous haze.

Yuri Petrov – Palekh miniature is an incredibly modern interpretation of Russian lacquer miniature.

What is my greatest extravagance?

I waste my time unwisely, but it makes perfect sense from the perspective of motherhood. I have twins, they are wonderful boys, to whom I devote a lot of time, we read and discuss books, help children with school assignments, help prepare for Olympiads, children like cooking – preparing dinner takes a long time, and the kitchen turns into an experimental laboratory and requires order.

On what occasion would I lie?

I value honesty and sincerity in relationships, but I allow white lies. For thousands of years, people have been talking about lies, many ancient philosophers justified the lies of a doctor, the lies of a politician in the name of public benefit, such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero…. That’s why I always liked the representatives of late Stoicism more.

What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?

This is sitting motionless for many hours, when the gluteus maximus becomes very tired of sitting.

When and where was I the happiest, in my work?

This is in my studio, this is the space where time flows differently, this is my parallel universe, my library of art books, my sketches, my sculptures, here I dream and create new images out of nothing, materialize thoughts. In the workshop I can mentally talk to my creations and even argue. I am a dreamer! As soon as a face and eyes emerge from the chaos, which I inlay with amber, gold or mother-of-pearl and black horn, I immediately have an interlocutor. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to part with my works. The first time I exhibited my works in gallery, I did not sleep all night, in the morning I ran and took them home. It took me a while to let them go.

If I could, what would I change about myself?

This is called the path to perfection. We are all born primates and throughout our lives we strive to become Human, through knowledge of the world, logic, analyzing someone’s actions, studying the history of mankind, learning mathematics, literature, art, ethics and aesthetics, thinking about philosophy…. But a person is always dissatisfied with something, something always remains unattainable, the main thing is not to stop on this path.

What is my greatest achievement in work?

Perhaps it’s a passion for experimentation and a desire to raise the bar higher. I am constantly learning new techniques, mixing styles, materials, images…

Where would I most like to live?

As Epictetus used to say and Marcus Aurelius echoed: “They seek solitude in the wilderness, near the seashore, in the mountains. That’s what you’re grieving about. Only somehow all this is in a philistine way, when you can only wish right now to retire to yourself. And nowhere does a person retire more quietly and calmly than in his own soul, especially if inside he has something that, when you look at, you find well-being.” It’s best to live where I am loved, appreciated, where I can create and immerse myself in my inner world.

What is my most treasured possession?

Love, children, home comfort, workshop, books, music, serene sky above, the aroma of roses from the park flower beds, freshly brewed coffee, an interesting conversationalist…

What is my most marked characteristic?

As an artist, I am very scrupulous about details, authenticity, patient in achieving an excellent result, it is important for me to embody the image accurately, so pedantry is one of my characteristics.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

– Chisinau parks filled with the scents of roses and fir trees, where you can wander along the paths or sit on a bench and dream of new images, guess the silhouettes in the clouds.

What is my favorite place to eat and drink, in my city?

I am a very homely person and prefer to cook myself, on weekends I can cook dinner with the children, it’s fun, but I can’t always keep everything under control, but the time spent together is priceless!

What books influenced my life and how?

Of course, books shape our way of thinking; at school I read science fiction, ancient civilizations, biographies of artists and sculptors, philosophy, and historical events. “The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne gave me the opportunity to dream limitlessly and believe that much can be achieved, a way out of a critical situation can be sound, if one does not lose heart. “Stone and Pain” by Karel Schulz, telling about Michelangelo, his search and throwing, daring, perseverance and stubbornness in achieving his goal, his sonnets comparable to Dante’s sonnets, his passion for sculpture. “Reflections” of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus left a mark on my perception of simplicity in life, it resonates so much with the Japanese philosophy of Wabi-Sabi – beauty in simplicity.

You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day?

Interstellar by Hans Zimmer in Royal Albert Hall Organ. I really love music performed by the organ, there is an organ hall in Chisinau, the organ is not large, only 3000 pipes, but you can feel the sound of the organ even on your skin, a magnificent ancient instrument.

Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?

Perhaps the image of Natasha Rostova from Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is close to my spirit. I am always attracted by images of strong-willed women: Tatyana Larina from “Eugene Onegin” and Masha Mironova from “The Captain’s Daughter” by A.S. Pushkin. Of the characters, I adore the image of Woland from “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov – omnipotent, omniscient and captivating with his confidence – too ideal to be.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

I admire educated people who are able to take responsibility for their family, children, for the country, changing the world for the better, moving science, doctors saving lives, astronauts flying into the unknown, architects creating amazing buildings and bridges, airplane and ship designers, composers…

Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime?

“Inception” by Christopher Nolan, “Avatar” by James Cameron and “That Munchausen” by Mark Zakharov.

What role play stories in my life and work?

Our whole life is woven from stories, great and funny, short and life-long, interesting and boring. At the heart of everything is someone’s story or the story of the embodied image. While creating the miniature sculpture “Attila’s Daughter,” I delved into the descriptions of the Huns; the nomads had no written language; the peoples they captured wrote stories about them. “Alanka and the Roman” – the battle of Adrianaple in 378, two Roman emperors died in it, the history of the great Roman empire was going into decline. While creating netsuke and okimono, I reread stories from Japanese folklore.

What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me?

To tell my life, it is necessary to have co-authors who live nearby and see me from the outside, but refracting the image through all prisms is unlikely to work reliably. Still, a lot will remain between the lines, because…

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

My husband, we have been together since school, that’s 36 years. He is an engineer, which means logic and critical thinking flourish in the family, and of course his technical support is invaluable!

Which people or companies would I like to work with ?

I would like to work with art connoisseurs, art galleries, museums, I plan to attend exhibitions, publish articles in art magazines…

What project am I looking forward to work on?

perhaps an analogue of the amber room, but made from mammoth tusk… however, this is too grandiose a project. I have a lot of interesting ideas, I am constantly creating something.

Where can you see me or my work?

https://natashapopova.art/

https://www.facebook.com/natasha.popova.5477

https://www.instagram.com/natashapopovasculptor/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-popova-01352918a/

https://vk.com/natashapopova_art

I am a member of International Netsuke Society since 2005. I was published in the INS journals several times. https://www.netsuke.org/

Two of my sculptures, “Spring” and “Dreaming Winter”, were exhibited in The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers in London, UK, 16-28 October 2007. http://royal-miniature-society.org.uk.

The exhibition in the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, November 2017, there were 120 netsuke of modern sculptors from Russia, Japan, CIS countries and EU. 5 netsuke were done by me and were published in the exhibition catalogue.

To read publications you must be a member of INS.

Publications:

The article “The Netsuke of Natasha Popova” about my Ryusa style netsuke has been published in The International Netsuke Society Journal Spring 2008 Issue http://www.netsuke.org/2008INSJournals

The article “Contemporary carver Natasha Popova” in the CIS Netsuke Society journal http://netsuke.org.ru/articles/2010-11-01/journal.html

The article “Natasha Popova” by Luigi B. Olliaro has been publushed in the Interational Netsuke Society Journal Summer 2015 http://www.netsuke.org/Resources/Documents/INS-Journals/2015/2015-Summer.pdf

The column by Pat Calhoun in the Interational Netsuke Society Journal Winter 2016 http://www.netsuke.org/Resources/Documents/INS-Journals/2016/2016-Winter.pdf

The column by Pat Calhoun in the Interational Netsuke Society JournalSpring 2016 http://www.netsuke.org/Resources/Documents/INS-Journals/2016/Spring-Vol-36.pdf

The exhibition in the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, November 2017, there were 120 netsuke of modern sculptors from Russia, Japan, CIS countries and Europe. 5 netsuke were done by me and were published in the exhibition catalogue.

All these publication are available for reading on my website: https://natashapopova.art/

What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?

Passion is a feeling dominating reason that creates a hero from the general mass of people. This is akin to madness, obeying passion, people conquer Everest, perform feats, discoveries, write incredible works of literature, music, art, make films, make the most incredible fantasies come true! Passion never fades among people, we are all creators! Everything I create is a product of passion, and as long as this passion controls me, I create.