Referencing themes of duality—between the human and non-human, matter and spirit, HUMANS proposes a bold aesthetic and philosophical reflection on the state of contemporary existence. Beyond the visual and conceptual layers, her work is profoundly infused with poetry. The poetic dimension functions both as a methodology and as a form of resistance, opening symbolic spaces where fragility and intensity coexist.
The poetic language becomes intertwined with gesture, materiality, and form, shaping an artistic universe that questions the limits of identity and embodiment.
The youth of today’s world are called to demonstrate a form of interdisciplinary heroism, under which they must fulfill their personal veils-of-purpose while simultaneously becoming direct or indirect architects of tomorrow’s societal profile. At the same time, they are compelled to discover immersive ways of engaging in self-knowledge, navigating both rational and intuitive modes of understanding their surroundings — especially in relation to knowledge itself.
Each piece is conceived as a layered experience, amplified by the presence of monumental oil paintings that share the same visual DNA: expressive, fragmented, luminous. The works hint at a deeper human essence — one that appears to belong not to matter, but to something mysterious, elevated, nearly angelic.
In HUMANS fashion becomes a philosophical vessel. It frames not only the body but the shifting soul, echoing the need for a new kind of heroism: immersive, hybrid, and spiritually lucid.
Poems
Blood’s microtones are stolen from my body and replaced with the saps of plants that besiege my brain and the virginity of my soul. I walk like a double, with triple legs and my face multiplied into dozens of replicas, staggering, they overlap, and I feel my mouth numbing into a single instance, in its full form, ready to cry out the name of a beloved being, as if the sunlight reveals it through the scent of an oleander, then disappears into the subversive strokes of a painting.
HUMANS | Carmen Emanuela POPA, London Fashion Week | Profile Designer, Model Tudor Criveanu, MRA Agency, Location photography Bucharest