Paper and light are both essential to Popel Coumou’s (b.1979) compositions. The Dutch artist constructs works by positioning geometric shapes over and alongside each other, creating three dimensional spaces from handmade cut-outs. In doing so, she explores the way in which our minds work: how little information we actually need to fill in the blanks and make our own realities. Purple-blue rooms are cast in deep shadow, whilst mysterious staircases seemingly lead to nowhere. In other spaces, we are met with geometric columns and sunlight that bleeds in through bright open windowpanes. Coumou’s latest interiors are built up from various images of skies, whose natural colour gradients and textures come together to construct the illusion of depth. It’s a contemporary take on collage, and she joins artists like James Casebere and Thomas Demand in harnessing analogue construction to render new realms out of humble materials, like card. popelcoumou.nl
Image credits:
1. Popel Coumou, 184 Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
2.Popel Coumou, 191 Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
3. Popel Coumou, 193 Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
4. Popel Coumou, 215 Untitled (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.
5. Popel Coumou, 177 Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
6. Popel Coumou, 139 Untitled (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.
7. Popel Coumou, 186 Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
8. Popel Coumou, 205 Untitled (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.
9. Popel Coumou, 204 Untitled (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.
