ART

BEAUTY

What’s in a name? For Victoria Leigh Poplaski, born in Hackensack and raised in Paramus, her brand is.

“I was called ‘V Pop’ growing up,” said Poplaski, now 26. “I had to take advantage of the play on words and VLPOPART was born.”

Thankfully, one of Poplaski’s favorite types of art to create is pop art, an art movement that emerged in the 1950s and flourished in the 1960s in America and Britain, drawing inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture.

“It’s timeless and will never go out of style,” she said. “It can be playful, but still meaningful as well as colorful. I love that they are statement pieces that always spark conversation.”

And spark conversation as an artist she does.

“I am a painter,” Poplaski said. “I say painter strongly because I actually don’t consider myself all that good at drawing. People tend to tilt her heads in confusion when I say that. I can create shapes and illusions of what I’m picturing, but the paint is how I bring the art to life.”

It’s all about trusting the process, she added.

Poplaski mainly works with a brush and acrylic paints, paint pens and spray paint. She free hands all her work from scratch. The self-taught artist, who says the extent of her formal art education were her art electives at Paramus High School, is still learning, however.

“There are a lot of materials that I’m beginning to work with that will compliment new techniques that I’m developing and incorporating into my work,” she said.

“With a lack of tangible art diplomas or schooling degrees, I always say that if you’re passionate about something, it is never out of your reach. You can learn to do anything. You just need to commit and be disciplined. Real life, hands-on experience is the best way of learning, in my opinion.”

These days, Poplaski is mainly working on commissioned pieces, created out of Bergen County, with private clients. Soon, she hopes to devote more of her time creating a line of pieces for galleries.

“I have a lot of goals, aspirations and exciting ideas,” she shared. “I’m super excited to see where this blessing of a journey will continue to take me, and I’m lucky to say that I am doing something that I genuinely love and enjoy for my career.”