In the Studio with Pops
Pops K. Ümlang is a fine artist turned creative founder, leading a studio that translates sculptural form and surface illustration into emotionally resonant design. This self-interview offers an exclusive peak at the growing studio, from the scraps on the studio floor to the sparkling horizon ahead.
Where did House of Pops come from?
It started with a ritual—quiet, personal, and a little makeshift.
I wasn’t building a business yet. I was building a refuge. Something about the textures of salvaged lace, faded paper, and broken ceramics helped me piece together a sense of place I couldn’t find anywhere else.
House of Pops emerged as a studio on the outskirts of an unfolding universe. It’s where my neurodivergent rhythms and slow-building artistry found a form that could hold them. Translating soft escapism into art, objects, environments that feel lived-in, and enchanted.
It was an act of slow authorship—a way of shaping a creative life that could stretch with me.
What is your creative process like?
As with most things in my studio, my designs begin on a whim. A quiet concept lingering in the corner. An odd color palette flickering against a storied texture.
I gather patterns, scraps, materials, and references that embody this feeling and give it shape. The work evolves through sketching, collage, or sculptural play—following this intuitive rhythm.
House of Pops is where the layering and refinement take hold and pull the visual language forward. These creative artifacts transform across patterned surfaces, onto styled products and editorial designs.
Each piece begins with atmosphere and ends with adaptability—designed and curated for each collection, client, and format.
How do you define your visual style?
Think: cottagecore meets cosmic fantasy. My style is rooted in tactile, handcrafted textures—gouache brushstrokes, stitched paper, salvaged surfaces—and layered with details that feel a little otherworldly. Rusted neon patina over soft neutrals gives the palette its offbeat charm, blending playful pastels with a whimsically retro edge.
Those cosmic colors and well-worn textures create a quiet cohesion across mediums—whether sculpted, painted, or collaged. The work feels familiar, with a faded sense of lost-and-found, and a softness that invites people to linger. A fragment from another realm. Or something that brings you closer to home. Or both?
What do you hope people feel when they experience your work?
My work offers a deliberate contrast to the overstimulated, flattened world we live in. These visual worlds are built to feel like a soft landing—answering our quiet longing for fantasy and enchantment.
I create work that softens the edges—a touch of play, a flicker of the uncanny, a small door into elsewhere. The goal isn’t just beauty. It’s connection. Visual objects that anchor and soothe—a kind of soft structure in a disjointed world.
What are you building through House of Pops?
I’m building a studio that blends fine art, surface design, and narrative styling into immersive visual worlds—each grounded in tactile richness, emotional resonance, and a hint of enchantment.
I’m actively growing a body of work that adapts across industries and seasons while remaining grounded in artistic integrity. From licensing and product design to editorial collaborations and tactile installations, House of Pops is structured for imaginative expansion, meaningful partnerships, and long-term creative momentum.
The bigger picture? A design studio that helps people reconnect with softness, wonder, and the beauty of a world they can belong to.
What makes a creative collaboration magical for you?
The best collaborations feel like a creative rhythm—each round building toward something more refined, more resonant, and more unexpected than either of us could have planned alone. I love when a partner brings a clear vision or market direction and trusts me to stretch it through my visual language.
Whether we’re co-creating a product collection, art-driven campaign, or immersive visual world, the process works best when there’s space to explore, thoughtful communication, and mutual delight in making something distinct. That’s when the work sings—and those are the projects I’ll always say yes to.
If you're dreaming up something special, I'd love to hear about it.
Open to licensing, styling, and story-led projects. Inquiries welcome: contact@houseofpops.art
More glimpses from the studio at @pk.umlang.
