October 2014 – Page 2 – TransverseAlchemy

Originally trained as a photographic designer at the Academy for Fine Arts and Design in Breda, The Netherlands, Dutch artist Handiedan started working in collage in 2007. Her style involves a complex cut and paste mixture of illustration and graphic design, computer montage, and highly detailed sculptural hand cut collages culled from international currencies and stamps, antique sheet music ornaments, playing cards, cigar bands and Asian papers combined with personal items and drawings.

Collage art enables Handiedan to combine all her visual fascinations on a single backdrop, where she can portray and explore her personal interest in the era’s of life and time. Using of multiple classic pin-up body parts, the female form stands out over a backdrop of baroque and Victorian Neo-Classicism designs.
Handiedan first builds up her digital design out of the gathered collage material and drawings, then she rebuilds the design in multi-layered hand cut collage. A complex labyrinth of collage and paper layers stands out in relief, representing the gradual accumulation of layers in both her work and process.

Handiedan works in series; this suffices as an eclectic personal exploration or review of her main design’s journey and process. With each piece on either paper, antique wood or rusty metal, or a different size, containing different collage elements and details result in a different story, emotion and time dimension within each piece.
The main aesthetic and erotic female form works as the carrier of the stories that lie underneath and on the surface.

Complimented by antique ornamental frames, her artwork has been shown throughout the world including her last year’s sold-out solo show at Thinkspace Gallery, Spoke Art/Hashimoto Contemporary, Roq la Rue, Phone Booth Gallery, Black Book Gallery in the US, Unit 44 in the UK, and Mondo Bizzarro Gallery in Rome and Musée La Halle St. Pierre in Paris.
Her art has been featured in several books, magazines and blogs including Victionary, Die Gestalten Verlag, HEY!, BISPublishers, Delayed Gratification, IdN Magazine, NowThen, Monday Inspiration, DPI, Fefe, HiFructose and Juxtapoz.