Presented in his third solo exhibition with Daniel Faria Gallery, Steven Beckly’s new photographic series Handy Work stems from a collaborative process between the artist and his father, a Chinese-Canadian war veteran. The images feature their hands, adorned with unique brass rings created using 3D-printing technology. Drawing on Beckly’s father’s time as a weapons technician during the Vietnam War, the rings’ designs reference the shapes of bullets, casings, and shields. 

Captured in chiaroscuro lighting against army-green and camouflage-patterned backdrops, the subjects’ hands twist and transform into various evocative shapes. In the titular image, two bullet-shaped rings worn by Beckly’s father extend the reach of his fingers, which together form a mudra, a hand gesture symbolic within Buddhist circles.

Through the process of interweaving military and spiritual references, Beckly began to question the connections between these enduring human practices, while examining how hands can serve this questioning. In this latest body of work, Beckly considers the ways in which images, objects, and the legacies of war interlink generations. What gets handed down from father to son?

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This exhibition is supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.

• Steven Beckly (he/they) is a Chinese-Canadian photographic artist residing in Tkaronto/Toronto. Recent solo exhibitions include: Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto; Stride Gallery, Calgary; and Centre3, Hamilton. Beckly’s work has been featured in exhibitions at the Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto, Scarborough; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal; and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Beckly is represented by Daniel Faria Gallery.