Astari Rasjid: Modern metaphors for ancient issues<\/p>\n
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Many of Astari Rasjid's previous works were stirring revelations
\nof gender situations in the Javanese traditional life of the
\nupper classes, done with a trenchant albeit refined critique.<\/p>\n
Her painterly style was realism with a surreal touch -- and
\none from which her Javanese background was always identifiable --
\nwhile her three-dimensional works were one-of-a-kind, stunning
\nmetaphors of a woman's life.<\/p>\n
The new works of Astari, now showing as an installation in the
\nCP Biennale 2003 at the National Gallery in Jakarta, signal
\nanother focus, but one which may also be interpreted as a modern
\njacket on the old phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Fear, shame, insecurity, denial, win or lose -- these are all
\nissues relating to the human psyche from the beginning of time
\nuntil today. Advanced information systems are rapidly closing the
\nwide global distances, evoking a sense of uncertainty in people.
\nIn the past, people wore amulets and other objects believed to
\nhave magical powers of protection to free them from fear and
\nuncertainty.<\/p>\n
Substitutes for protection in \"modern\" society can be found in
\nthe use of luxury goods with Western labels, clasped by the upper
\nclasses as tangible symbols of self-esteem and reassurance.<\/p>\n
It is closely tied to consumerism, the zeitgeist of the
\npresent time, and a phenomenon that is expanding by the day,
\nincluding in this country.<\/p>\n
Just as she used to question negative values of her Javanese
\nculture and tradition, one of the country's most acclaimed
\nartists is now taking aim at human behavior in modern times.<\/p>\n
Her large and heavy iron-made three-dimensional work The
\nPolitics of Seduction is a mockery of \"modern\" women for whom
\nsecurity comes with toting a Hermes bag. The bag is \"decorated\"
\nwith words -- Shame, Fear, Insecurity, Denial, Win or Lose,
\nAddiction -- which strike at the heart of the nagging anxieties
\nhaunting people today.<\/p>\n
On the wall in the background is a painting of seven
\nIndonesian women in sarong and kebaya (traditional blouse), each
\nholding a bag with a picture of the issues plaguing the country.<\/p>\n
Since the issues encompass both women and men, there is also a
\npainting featuring a Harley Davidson, a potent symbol of modern
\nmasculinity. The three-dimensional work tells of men's fixation
\nwith macho representations, with a quintet of men in traditional
\nattire admiring the motorbike upon which a beaming youth in a T-
\nshirt proudly sits.<\/p>\n
In the accompanying heavy sculpture from mixed media of a
\nmotor, Astari places an \"energizer\" in the form of a red rose. Is
\nshe saying that as macho as a man may be, he still can't deal
\nwith the female invigorator?<\/p>\n
The works signal an alarming situation, when amid the sorry
\nstate of the nation, people refuse to recognize the catastrophes
\nhappening around them, grabbing onto material symbols as flimsy
\nlife preservers in their unending storm.<\/p>\n
It's another stunning, thought-provoking work from Astari, who
\nbecame a serious artist only some 15 years ago, although her
\ninclination toward creativity and the arts showed since she was a
\nstudent in secondary school.<\/p>\n
Her work was particularly interesting since she delved into
\nher own Javanese culture and tradition. Marked by redefined
\nvalues of the tradition in which she grew up, her paintings
\nsignaled a new genre of art.<\/p>\n
As she explored Javanese culture and traced the traditions of
\nher ancestry, she discovered the depth of impact they had on the
\nlives of people, including herself. Trying to reconcile and
\nreinterpret the traditional concepts, she created paintings and
\nthree-dimensional works born out of perceptions and angles of
\nobservation that were in line with life as it shifted with time.<\/p>\n
It was only natural that hierarchy and regulations that ruled
\ngender relations became the first issues of attention; her
\nearliest paintings hinted at an inner impatience and with having
\nto hide true feelings behind the various masks stipulated by
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
She later created the \"Loro Blonyo\" series, from the
\ntraditional Javanese figurines of a man and woman. These were
\nstirring tales centered on women's lives and marked by somber
\nhues, a closed door, dripping red paint from the roof and a stiff
\nwhite-faced female figure in traditional attire sitting outside
\nthe door, with a mask, a wayang puppet and other elements
\nsymbolizing tradition.<\/p>\n
Symbols and symbolism became a major part of her intriguing
\nworks. In one of her self-portraits, the Borobudur Temple became
\nsymbolic of the womb as the most sacred place of the life cycle's
\nbeginning, and the sanctity of women, with the lotus flower
\nemphasizing the sense of sacredness.<\/p>\n
An installation about marriage and equality between spouses
\nindicates woman's position, with a bare upper body behind an old
\nantique door, with a cinde marriage cloth placed to the left and
\nthe right of the center and pairs of the same sandals at the end
\nof each.<\/p>\n
Shattering a cultural glass house full of taboos yet
\nacknowledging the universality of issues encountered in Javanese
\nsociety, Astari proceeds in bringing out the traditional into her
\ncontemporary artworks, relating both to the political, the social
\nas well as the personal.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, her penetrating comments are accomplished with
\nsubtle signs and refined esthetics, revealing an enduring legacy
\nof her Javanese background.<\/p>\n
Selected among the 20 best of 22,000 entries of the worldwide
\nWinsor and Newton Exhibition (1999), her painting No U-Turn used
\nJavanese symbolism as a metaphor for persistent feudal practices
\nand the emerging forces of change and equality visualized by the
\nwoman's straight gaze and the same position of man and woman at
\neach side of the door. There was also the inclusion of the lotus
\nflower, to express the wish for new life and rebirth.<\/p>\n
The painting offered plural interpretations, including the
\ngender, human, political and social perspectives in Indonesia at
\nthe time.<\/p>\n
Astari has now moved to another stage, as her art seems to be
\nincreasingly relating to social change, evident by the fine works
\nin the current exhibition.<\/p>",
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