Daisy Holden was born in Hollywood, California in 1985. She received her BFA from CalArts in 2007 and attended The Glasgow School of Art in 2006.

Growing up in this often idealized location, Holden came to understand intimately the difference between myth and reality.  In a place where disparate walks of life and social statuses collide, the work exists at the intersections of life, labor, identity, dreams, time, and place.

Holden subverts established perceptions of beauty by drawing parallels to the objectification of the female figure and the constraints placed on women throughout history. 

Holden’s work questions the proliferation of this imagery and its ability to both beguile and distort. Referencing gestures from high fashion, erotica, classical Greek sculpture, and art history, Holden renders nude female figures in gray tones and isolates them against austere backgrounds and negative space.

Historically used across cultures to embody a character or channel an inner state of being, masks are a recurring theme in Holden’s compositions. Whether in theater, dance, or ritual, they can conceal or unveil the hidden self. She furthers that narrative by pushing the masks into the three-dimensional realm. Constructed from recycled fabrics and hand-embroidered textures, their tactility speaks to the rich intricacies and complexities of personal identity. By placing these masks on idealized female forms, Holden creates a sense of dissonance, inciting tension amongst the contrasting layers of color and texture, abstraction and figuration, perfection and perversion.

To develop these compositions, Holden studies and absorbs popular imagery in mainstream magazines such as W, Vogue, Playboy, and National Geographic, from which she cuts out images to assemble into collages that further distill her ideas. These images are intentionally chosen to illustrate her understanding of the cultural moment in which they exist and what makes them widely accessible to the masses. Holden then translates the collaged impressions into large-scale paintings—a scale that attempts to carry the same monumentalism of billboards and street advertising.

In the artist’s own words, “I'm questioning the polarization between perception and actualism, the handmade and mass-produced, lowbrow and highbrow, fine art and pornography. In doing so, I embrace their intersections and challenge the preconceptions prescribed by popular media.”