Faina Lerman

Faina Lerman, born in 1975 in Riga, Latvia, immigrated to the U.S. in 1980. She earned a BFA from the College for Creative Studies in 2004. With over 25 years as an educator and arts advocate in Detroit, she has worked with organizations like the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, College for Creative Studies, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. In 2007, Lerman and her husband founded Popps Packing in Hamtramck, an international artist residency and community Hub.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

My practice is an ongoing conversation with the world around me, a process of observing, reflecting, and attempting to capture life’s fleeting moments. The tension between representation and abstraction runs throughout my work as I strive to express something beyond the literal—gestures, feelings, and memories that rest in the space between. I find beauty in the incomplete, in moments when something just *feels* right, even if it’s messy or imperfect. In this space of ambiguity, I navigate the balance between control and surrender, perfection and imperfection, movement and stillness.