The city of West Hollywood unveiled “Banned Books: The Handmaid’s Tale,” a new sculptural artwork by Los Angeles-based artist A. Laura Brody at the West Hollywood Library on Oct. 8.

A reception for the artists will be held Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. The sculpture will be on display until late June 2027.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is just one of several books restricted across school districts and libraries nationwide.

“I have been a lover of books since I was a child,” Brody said. “I feel pretty strongly that we need more books, not fewer. We need more awareness about a wide variety of different viewpoints and cultures and standpoints, and that’s important.”

Brody has created several paper sculptures inspired by banned books, including “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury, a book about book banning and burning, and “A Clockwork Orange,” by Anthony Burgess, one of the most banned and challenged books in the United States.

“Simply because a book is difficult doesn’t mean that it should be banned,” Brody said. “Sometimes that means we need to talk about it more.”

She also created versions of the sculpture based on Elphaba in the 1995 novel version of “Wicked,” by Gregory Maguire, “The Wizard of Oz,” by L. Frank Baum and the cover image of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson, all of which have been banned by school boards and libraries across the country.

Ultimately, the city decided to commission a sculpture inspired by Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a 1985 dystopian novel about a fundamentalist Christian theocracy that overthrew the United States government after a fertility crisis caused population and environmental collapse. Women lack all civil rights, property ownership, the ability to read and are forced to wear color-coded robes. Handmaids, women who were enslaved as surrogate child-bearers for the elite, wear the red robes. Wives of the elite wear blue robes. Domestic servants wear green robes. Women who policed the handmaids wear brown robes.

The book is banned in school districts and public libraries across several states, including Florida, Texas, Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, Utah and Pennsylvania. In 2017, “The Handmaid’s Tale” was adapted into a popular TV series that aired on Hulu for six seasons.

“This piece is a visceral way to get people to pay attention,” Brody said. “This is a way to get people engaged, involved and thinking about [banned books], because essentially you’re banning the idea.”

West Hollywood selected “The Handmaid’s Tale” sculpture because the Handmaid character is so easily recognizable to the public, Brody said, “but also because it’s such a profound and important story right now.”

Inspired by banned books, Brody created the sculpture through a combination of mediums, including fabric and paper work. She used strips of pages from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” printouts of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and pages from several Harry Potter books to create the Handmaid structure.

After visiting her local bookstore, Brody found they had an excess of Harry Potter books, which inspired her to use them for the sculpture.

“There’s a local bookstore which is very inclusive, very queer friendly, that got donated these [Harry Potter] books, and because of J.K. Rowling’s really bizarre stance that she’s taken on trans people – among other things – they didn’t want to use these books,” Brody said. They [didn’t] know what to do with them, and I had this project … There are strips of those [books] woven together and sewn down to a heavy-duty interfacing.”

Words from “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the Dobbs’ decision were used on the red parts of the sculpture, Brody said. Most of Brody’s paper sculptures are white or off-white, but with the Handmaids, the red felt like a necessary part of the costume, she said. In the TV show, the Handmaids wear blood-red or deep red robes designed to look like vibrant lifebloods. For the sculpture, Brody said she wanted them to appear “blood-soaked,” so she went for a more ombré red hue throughout the sculpture.

Along with the piece, a picture of the book cover and an explainer of why it was banned are on display. The West Hollywood Library is also showcasing a special display highlighting books that have been challenged or banned across the country.

Critics, school boards and libraries across the country have banned “The Handmaid’s Tale” because of perceived anti-Christian or political messaging, sexual content, profanity, LGBTQ+ inclusion and mature themes.

“I love books,” Brody said. “I can’t even understand why you would want to take them away from people.” 

Brody began her career in 1992 as a costumer. She worked in specialty costuming for several Netflix, Nickelodeon and Disney shows, including “Kicking It,” “Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything,” “Side Hustle,” “That Girl Lay Lay” and “K.C. Undercover.”

As a sculptor, speaker, curator and activist, Brody has done a variety of exhibitions and series centering on the human body. In her series “Opulent Mobility,” Brody re-imagines disability as opulent and powerful, she said.

In 2023, Brody received a California Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship for her art and curatorial work, as well as a grant from Ability Central to further the accessibility of her exhibits and programming. Since 2023, her curatorial work has grown to include “Enter the Goddesses,” “Wearable Art” and “Diverse/City” exhibitions. Her artwork has been shown at a variety of galleries and museums.

The Handmaid exhibition is free to visit during regular library hours and will remain on view in the front window at West Hollywood Library until late June 2027.

The West Hollywood Library is located at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd.

To RSVP and for information on the reception, visit eventbrite.com/e/exhibit-reception-bird-circuit-90069-banned-books-the-handmaids-tale-tickets-1997894891402?aff=oddtdtcreator.