Daniel Popper
(b. 1983 Cape Town, South Africa)
Heartland
2018

Two large-scale wooden hands emerge from the earth protecting an open heart. From inside the heart, a burst of plant life overflows. The artist, Daniel Popper, began making large-scale sculptures like this one in 2007 for a festival in his native country of South Africa. Since then, he has created artwork that fuses human forms with natural imagery in locations across the world.

For the artist, these artworks allow viewers to connect with a deeper meaning. As he has described: “I put a strong intention into the sculptures to create a kind of portal for people to access deeper parts of themselves and their psyche.” In the context of the lush landscape of Northwest Arkansas, one of Heartland’s meanings connects the preservation of the natural world to our own actions in our everyday lives.

(revised by Carlyn Wilder, 2024)