Handiedan's collage work feeds on the tainted history of pin-up girl posters, using torn, aged surfaces to subvert sexiness. At first glance, the images have a nostalgic feeling, fueled by their ornate details and seemingly straightforward compositions, but a closer look quickly reveals their brutality.
Though her current work tends toward multi-faceted, multi-hued theatricality, it also embraces an element of noir-inspired starkness. For the first time, Handiedan has experimented with black and white imagery, and to haunting effect.
Ultimately, Handiedan presents a new history by repurposing an old one. Posters, icons, typography, constructs, and decorations of earlier eras are toggled together in a way that scratches away at the past's objectification while celebrating its glamour. - Phone Booth Gallery
Intricate and meticulously crafted, Handiedan's collages represent the gradual accumulation of layersânot only of materials like wood, metal and paper, but cultural references as well. Over a backdrop of baroque designs culled from international currencies and antique sheet music, the artist fuses classic pin-up girl body parts to create her own version of beauty. Sometimes these beauties might wield an extra arm or two, and everything that lies exposed beyond their garters and brassieres is heavily inked with hand-drawn tattoos.
