97
INDONESIA
Astari Rasjid
No ‘U’ Turn 1998
oil on canvas 70 x 110 cm

Astari Rasjid was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1953, and studied painting at the University of Minnesota, USA, and at the Royal College of Art, London. She lives in Jakarta, where she teaches at the Arts Institute. Her painting shows a male and female figure in traditional dress in front of a Javanese screen, which opens to show an idyllic and mystical land. The artist comments: ‘The tightness of the space, the choice of monochromatic and opaque colours, and the stiffness of the figures are reflections of how I feel about the current situation in Indonesia. Although the elaborately rich and beautiful grey setting offers a sense of depth, to me it feels suffocating. The scene is illuminated by a soft lotus flower which expresses my desire for the birth of a new nation as well as a new person in me’.