Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Diana Popa 

BA [Hons] Art

Diana Popa is an artist based both in Galway and Dublin. She predominantly works with the media of photography, video, and scripted performance. Currently, she is exploring aspects of mortality and ritual. She is particularly interested in how curses and funeral traditions can act as a coping mechanism and offer a way to connect to the afterlife. Her previous group exhibitions include the IADT student shows Perceived Dimensions (Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2018), Making the Intangible Tangible (United Arts Club, 2019), and High Heart (Pallas Projects, 2021).

Project Description

This project uses video to explore how funeral traditions can function as coping mechanisms. My work draws upon research into the process of embalming, which is used to prepare the body of the deceased. In many cultures, the appearance of the deceased is a very important part of the wake and the mourning process. The deceased person is made to appear healthy, rather than how they may have looked when they were close to the moment of death. This appearance of health helps their loved ones to remember them. The choice and display of the coffin, as an expensive and well-crafted object, can also be important, as it is the body’s eternal resting place. By focusing on the aesthetic aspects of funeral traditions, the videos explore how the appearance of health and wealth can help to ease the trauma of loss.


The Influence of Norwegian Black Metal on Art and Society

This text explores the history and influence of Black metal. Black metal concerns a number of issues that are explored through visual art. Artists and people influenced by black metal became more violent both in their art-making and in everyday life. From video, photography, and performance to painting and sculpture the artists saw the music and the musicians as an opportunity. Fascinated by their behavior they took their art to a level that required a deep understanding of the history of the genre.