Astonishing Astrud
I set up my studio lights in Astrud Adriano’s house as I prepare for our appointed photo shoot and I am amazed at how she has managed to harmoniously put together all the artworks and collectibles that she has amassed through the years into her home. Unlike her previous abode (where every inch was painted with a piñata of Mexican colors), Astrud’s walls are white, allowing for her installation art to render accent.
Astrud is known as a purveyor of art and has for years brought in the most interesting pieces from around the world. She is also a creator of shoes, houseware and furniture pieces. This season, Astrud is presenting her chair collection. On one side of the dining room rests an Angry Birds armchair made of dozens of plush toys based on the popular console game. This piece was part of a group exhibit using the theme Mandala. Astrud explains, “The word ‘mandala’ is Sanskrit for circle and is a ritual symbol. At that time, the game ‘Angry Birds’ was at its peak. Like the mandala, the game is used to relax, to quiet the mind by demolishing obstacles with the least amount of effort.”
Hanging on a wall near the entrance door is a massive installation piece that is impossible to ignore. A mash-up of pastoral life is represented by the clever mix of red bull heads, roses, artificial grass, feathers shaped like wings, colanders, clocks and 17 blue, plastic, wind-up bunnies. When asked about this conversation piece, Astrud replies, “The title of that work is Grazing in the Garden of My Fertile Imagination. It is a representation of how I was thinking and feeling at that time in my life. Although the elements in the piece represent a domestic setting, there is a sense of power and obstinacy that is felt.”
Astrud’s chairs, however, are what I have been invited to see. Giant woven chairs sit at the center of Astrud’s sala. Called Oasis chairs, the seats resemble round stools with very tall, cobra-shaped canopies as back rests. They are a colorful set and are distinctly woven in patterns that are reminiscent of Filipino tribal weaves.
Another of Astrud’s pieces is a sofa using abel iloko fabric. The charcoal gray couch is a handsome, stately piece that would be a welcome addition to any living room or den. What may be easily overlooked are the diamond patterns in the upholstery that, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves to be hand-woven. Yet another seat would for the uninitiated, seem like it was covered in a black and white French Toile du Jouy design when in fact, the prints on the fabric are filled with kapres, manananggals, tikbalangs!
One tends to take a second look at Astrud and think about how a provocative mind could rest beneath her pretty and soft countenance. But then again, Astrud Adriano is an artist who was born to astonish. And she would not have it any other way.
Portrait photography by Joanne Zapanta-Andrada
(For more information, visit www.facebook.com/casa.amarilla.astrud or e-mail astrudac@gmail.com.)
