Honey | The Art of Reclamation and Transformation

Honey, the not-so-alter ego of multidisciplinary fine artist Hannah Jaeger, is a creator whose work is rooted in reclamation, transformation, and the continual reshaping of narrative. Honey (b. California, 1993) obtained her BFA from ArtCenter College of Art & Design in 2020 and currently works out of her home studio in Los Angeles, creating both her latest body of work and commission pieces.

Raised in a religious and socioeconomically normative home, Honey found an emotional outlet in visual art from an early age. The necessity and emotional weight of that outlet intensified after the death of her mother when Honey was still a child. In the heartbreak of that experience, art became a vital means of functioning within a world that seemed hopelessly dark… where words failed, art spoke.

Since then, Honey’s artistic practice has been driven by an intense desire to create work that communicates feelings for which there are no words. Her pieces are raw, unfiltered expressions… attempts to give form to the intricate tapestry of pain and trauma that colors our shared human existence, while simultaneously confronting the shadows lingering within the recesses of her own mind.

As she has evolved as a fine artist, Honey has delved deeper into the human psyche, and into her own narratives and memories. Her exploration seeks to unpack layers of perceived reality and actively defy oppressive theological and social ideologies upon which much of our reality is constructed.

The Process: Reframing Commodification

Central to Honey’s practice is the thoughtful act of transforming the meaning and context of found imagery. She harvests her source materials from diverse vintage print media, including Playboy and Hustler magazines (as well as some lesser-known “adult” publications), vintage textbooks, art and architecture books, random catalogs, and vintage Life magazines… Just to name a few. These materials, especially those from adult magazines, directly confront the long-standing commodification of women's bodies. Originally designed for mass consumption and the male gaze, Honey intentionally reframes them, elevating them from crass and objectified scenarios into powerful, goddess-like figures inhabiting surreal landscapes of her creation.

By placing these reclaimed images into new, surreal contexts, Honey forces viewers to question their inherited perceptions: What happens when an image originally meant to be consumed is restored to its agency, dignity, and strength? Through this artistic alchemy, Honey invites viewers to reconsider the powerful influence that historical commodification continues to wield over our modern consciousness.

Beyond the reclamation of the female form, Honey's work interrogates broader existential and societal structures. Her compositions exist in perpetual tension between control and chaos, stability and collapse. The strategic use of illusion paper (a recurring visual motif) demands closer attention, mirroring how society subtly dictates what we notice, interpret, or ignore. Additionally, her inclusion of imagery from vintage architecture books introduces structured environments into otherwise fluid landscapes, raising critical questions about permanence, authority, and the invisible frameworks shaping our external and internal worlds.

The Symbolism of Presence: Tentacles as Agency

A vital symbolic presence within Honey’s artwork is her repeated motif of tentacles, a direct representation of herself as the artist. These tentacles take on varied roles: sometimes they soothe or comfort, at other times they dissect, dismantle, lift, or guide. They embody Honey’s active agency within each piece, signaling her emotional and intellectual engagement with her subjects. Their intentional absence in certain works (particularly during periods of vulnerability or loss) can signify her moments of deep personal struggle, detachment, or powerlessness.

The balance between nostalgia and disruption is ever-present in Honey’s collages. By extracting from vintage materials, she evokes familiarity, lulling viewers into seemingly comfortable nostalgia… only to fracture that sense of comfort, exposing the deeper tensions beneath. This interplay between past and present, idealized and dismantled, speaks to a broader reckoning with history itself: What do we preserve? What do we challenge? And what emerges when we permit ourselves to perceive reality differently?

Juxtaposition remains Honey’s chosen language for confronting these narratives. Upon her canvas, death and rebirth become symbols that exemplify the cyclical nature of life and the profound transformations that adversity inevitably brings. Sexuality and feminism writhe within her compositions, holding mirrors up to the complexities of human connection, vulnerability, and empowerment.

Art as a Journey, Not Just Expression

For Honey, each moment of creation is a cathartic release; each composition, a visual poem born from the fragments of her lived experiences. Her art is not merely an expression… it is a journey, an exploration of the human condition inviting viewers to witness the beauty that can emerge from even the darkest corners of the soul.

Honey’s work does not seek to comfort; rather, it seeks to confront. It is simultaneously deeply personal and universally resonant, offering entry into a world where the past is never fixed, identity remains fluid, and perception itself is continuously challenged.

Welcome to Honey’s world… a world painted with the hues of survival, resilience, and the unyielding spirit that emerges when we dare to confront our deepest shadows.