South African multidisciplinary artist Daniel Popper is known for his colossal figurative sculptures and spectacular public art installations at art and music events around the world. From a gigantic female goddess at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas to a 12-meter-tall (39-foot-tall) forest god at Boom Festival in Portugal, his larger-than-life works bring magic and fantasy to each place they inhabit.
One of Popper’s most recent sculptures, Modem Swamp, is an epic, 8-meter-tall (26-foot-tall) female figure at this year’s Modem Festival in Croatia. Created using steel and fiberglass, and covered in concrete, the whimsical character is posed holding her face in front of her head like a mask, revealing the wild jungle growing within her skull. At night, projection mapping makes the piece appear as though it’s changing color and material—at one point, it even looks like it’s made from chrome. Popper writes on Instagram, “It was a change in style and materials for me and I absolutely loved the process and the outcome.”
In another 2019 work, titled ANIMA, Poppers created a 7-meter (23-foot) statue of a Mother Nature-like figure blowing kisses out to Electric Daisy Carnival festival goers as they entered the venue. Made from steel, fiberglass, wood, and natural fibers, the incredible sculpture lies on glass among plants, revealing more lush foliage below.
Enchanted by these mystical giants? Scroll down to see more of Popper’s incredible outdoor sculptures and explore even more of his growing portfolio on his website.