As February slides into March this week, Black History Month gives way to Women’s History Month. What better way to celebrate than with a winning Hand of inspiring “Queens?” Becca Hand is the artist, and her “Queens” exhibition showcases photo-realistic portraits of empowered women in Memphis.
The timely exhibition blends a realistic style with influences from a graphic design background, drawing inspiration from traditional playing card iconography. Starting with the classic Queen of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs, the project went on to address more challenging themes, such as time, joy, passion, courage, balance, and more.
Courtesy of Inferno
“Queens” by Becca Hand
Hand says, “While topics of each painting are idealistic and abstract, the real underlying theme is gratitude for the amazing women in my life who have helped shape me.”
In addition to painting, Hand is a partner and graphic designer at Paradigm Marketing & Creative. Having experimented with many different types of artistic interests over the years, from typography to woodworking to interior design to calligraphy, she consistently comes back to painting as one of the true passions of her life.
Get an early peek at Hand’s work during Eclectic Eye’s highly anticipated annual sale through February 27th. Independent eyewear brands will be up to 75 percent off, and a portion of each frame purchased will be donated to the Justice and Kindness Everywhere Foundation to help local restaurants provide meals to out-of-work hospitality workers. It’s a win-win.
“Queens,” Eclectic Eye, 242 S. Cooper, opens Monday, Mar. 1, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and continues through Mar. 31, free.
