Emilian Pop Kitz was born and raised in Romania, where he started his professional education from a young age at the “Romulus Ladea” Fine Arts School for Gifted Children in Cluj-Napoca. The school consisted predominantly of a rigorous constructive- realistic style, considered a good base and reference for the future development of any artist. After high school he had the opportunity to apprentice
and study with Church Painters masters in heritage restorations and new painting. For about 5 years he worked in different church sites around the country, where he learned various traditional techniques used at the time: oil, egg tempera and fresco. In 1990 he continued his education at the “Ion Andreescu” Visual Arts Academy, from where he obtained in 1996 his Master Degree in Visual Arts with major in Sculpture. During the school he participated in several group exhibitions in Romania and across the border and in 1998 he had his solo exhibition named “Icons and Wood” containing wood sculptures and byzantine style inspired icons on wood panels, at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. He learned how to build furniture and worked in a small company, and part time at Rogers Arena and BC Place. In the meantime he has participated in several group exhibitions in the Lower Mainland - Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Vancouver, and Surrey; in the same year he received an Honorable Mention at “Arts ’99”- Surrey. Kitz works are an expression of feelings and thoughts connected to his surroundings which could be something simple or more complex, from an object to a person, a building or a town, a symbol or something descriptive. Beside the traditional materials - wood, stone or metal he is not afraid to use in his works some unconventional ones like- fabric, foam, rope, wire, nails or any other media which he believes are appropriate at the time of conception.
