Astari Rasjid: Modern metaphors for ancient issues

Astari Rasjid: Modern metaphors for ancient issues

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Many of Astari Rasjid's previous works were stirring revelations
of gender situations in the Javanese traditional life of the
upper classes, done with a trenchant albeit refined critique.

Her painterly style was realism with a surreal touch -- and
one from which her Javanese background was always identifiable --
while her three-dimensional works were one-of-a-kind, stunning
metaphors of a woman's life.

The new works of Astari, now showing as an installation in the
CP Biennale 2003 at the National Gallery in Jakarta, signal
another focus, but one which may also be interpreted as a modern
jacket on the old phenomenon.

Fear, shame, insecurity, denial, win or lose -- these are all
issues relating to the human psyche from the beginning of time
until today. Advanced information systems are rapidly closing the
wide global distances, evoking a sense of uncertainty in people.
In the past, people wore amulets and other objects believed to
have magical powers of protection to free them from fear and
uncertainty.

Substitutes for protection in "modern" society can be found in
the use of luxury goods with Western labels, clasped by the upper
classes as tangible symbols of self-esteem and reassurance.

It is closely tied to consumerism, the zeitgeist of the
present time, and a phenomenon that is expanding by the day,
including in this country.

Just as she used to question negative values of her Javanese
culture and tradition, one of the country's most acclaimed
artists is now taking aim at human behavior in modern times.

Her large and heavy iron-made three-dimensional work The
Politics of Seduction is a mockery of "modern" women for whom
security comes with toting a Hermes bag. The bag is "decorated"
with words -- Shame, Fear, Insecurity, Denial, Win or Lose,
Addiction -- which strike at the heart of the nagging anxieties
haunting people today.

On the wall in the background is a painting of seven
Indonesian women in sarong and kebaya (traditional blouse), each
holding a bag with a picture of the issues plaguing the country.

Since the issues encompass both women and men, there is also a
painting featuring a Harley Davidson, a potent symbol of modern
masculinity. The three-dimensional work tells of men's fixation
with macho representations, with a quintet of men in traditional
attire admiring the motorbike upon which a beaming youth in a T-
shirt proudly sits.

In the accompanying heavy sculpture from mixed media of a
motor, Astari places an "energizer" in the form of a red rose. Is
she saying that as macho as a man may be, he still can't deal
with the female invigorator?

The works signal an alarming situation, when amid the sorry
state of the nation, people refuse to recognize the catastrophes
happening around them, grabbing onto material symbols as flimsy
life preservers in their unending storm.

It's another stunning, thought-provoking work from Astari, who
became a serious artist only some 15 years ago, although her
inclination toward creativity and the arts showed since she was a
student in secondary school.

Her work was particularly interesting since she delved into
her own Javanese culture and tradition. Marked by redefined
values of the tradition in which she grew up, her paintings
signaled a new genre of art.

As she explored Javanese culture and traced the traditions of
her ancestry, she discovered the depth of impact they had on the
lives of people, including herself. Trying to reconcile and
reinterpret the traditional concepts, she created paintings and
three-dimensional works born out of perceptions and angles of
observation that were in line with life as it shifted with time.

It was only natural that hierarchy and regulations that ruled
gender relations became the first issues of attention; her
earliest paintings hinted at an inner impatience and with having
to hide true feelings behind the various masks stipulated by
society.

She later created the "Loro Blonyo" series, from the
traditional Javanese figurines of a man and woman. These were
stirring tales centered on women's lives and marked by somber
hues, a closed door, dripping red paint from the roof and a stiff
white-faced female figure in traditional attire sitting outside
the door, with a mask, a wayang puppet and other elements
symbolizing tradition.

Symbols and symbolism became a major part of her intriguing
works. In one of her self-portraits, the Borobudur Temple became
symbolic of the womb as the most sacred place of the life cycle's
beginning, and the sanctity of women, with the lotus flower
emphasizing the sense of sacredness.

An installation about marriage and equality between spouses
indicates woman's position, with a bare upper body behind an old
antique door, with a cinde marriage cloth placed to the left and
the right of the center and pairs of the same sandals at the end
of each.

Shattering a cultural glass house full of taboos yet
acknowledging the universality of issues encountered in Javanese
society, Astari proceeds in bringing out the traditional into her
contemporary artworks, relating both to the political, the social
as well as the personal.

Remarkably, her penetrating comments are accomplished with
subtle signs and refined esthetics, revealing an enduring legacy
of her Javanese background.

Selected among the 20 best of 22,000 entries of the worldwide
Winsor and Newton Exhibition (1999), her painting No U-Turn used
Javanese symbolism as a metaphor for persistent feudal practices
and the emerging forces of change and equality visualized by the
woman's straight gaze and the same position of man and woman at
each side of the door. There was also the inclusion of the lotus
flower, to express the wish for new life and rebirth.

The painting offered plural interpretations, including the
gender, human, political and social perspectives in Indonesia at
the time.

Astari has now moved to another stage, as her art seems to be
increasingly relating to social change, evident by the fine works
in the current exhibition.