Lina Lundquist

Two works by artist Lina Lundquist are shown in this year's edition of the Handels x Mejan exhibition: Idle (2024) and Rejuvenique (2025) They are installed in the atrium and in the north corridor (ground floor) respectively.

Idle is a kinetic sculpture consisting of a robotic hand with acrylic nails, tapping the surface of the podium beneath it - a gesture associated with inertia or impatience. If technological development and mechanics are associated with ideas of rational productivity towards which humanity is measured, humanoid robotics embody this ambivalent conflict between human and machine. Nail extensions could be seen as a sign of unnecessary vanity but also one of resistance to demands of constant productivity, by making the hand less efficient. The podium is painted in a color named Camouflage Beige N350-4, which alludes to invisibility and mimicry of nature. The podium’s visibility is thus accentuated, contrasting with the notion of the podium as a ”neutral” object — a process of invisibility reminiscent of ideological naturalization.

Idle
Lina Lundquist, 2024
Mecha Model S Robotic Hand, acrylic nails, microcontroller, silver charms, MDF, glass, Camouflage Beige N350-4

”Rejuvenique Facial Toning Mask” is a cosmetic product intended to increase circulation and firmness in the face through electrical impulses and thereby rejuvenate aging skin. The mask, reminiscent of a prop from a horror film, rotates on top of a podium constructed from a BILLY shelf — IKEAs most frequently sold piece of furniture, one purchase every five seconds, according to the product description on the company’s website.

Rejuvenique,
Linda Lundquist, 2025
Rejuvenique Facial Toning Mask, BILLY, microcontroller, DC motor

Lina Lundquist (b. 1992, SE) holds an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm. In assemblages of objects and images, her works reflect on materializations of dominant ideologies - multifaceted compounds of elements reflecting the context within which they are produced.