PRIMOGENITE COLLECTION

Started in 2007 Primogênite is my first collection ever made consisting of 8 images in total. Heavily inspired by a graffiti artist from Chicago I met back in Rio de Janeiro and my desperation to be an artist. We had a brief romance but most of all he was the first person I have collaborated with and someone who helped me see myself as an artist. We travelled a lot and made a lot of art together. At that time my life was beyond a mess and this collection represents many stages of my teenager years and somewhat traumatic experiences I have been through.

Most of the pieces were created in 2007 but for example, the work Mother Nature was made in 2012. When I started Primogênite I didn’t have access to proper materials and the works were done poorly with the mediums I had at the time, coloured pencil and biro pens. In 2012 I submitted some of the images to an exhibition that I got accepted and I decided to develop further the pieces made in 2007, this way Primogênite was finally able to be born to its fullest.

The collection title comes from the word primogenitor meaning ‘A person from whom another is originally descended; the earliest ancestor’. Those pieces are so important in my career, and I would not be where I am right now as an artist without it. To think about how Primogênite has started and where it has led me is beyond words. This is what I consider to be the genesis of my genesis.

ARTIST

“ON APRIL 6TH 2023, I RECEIVED THE NEWS OF A LIFETIME – I’VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO EXHIBIT MY WORK AT NFT.BRASIL EVENT HELD AT MUSEU DE ARTE MODERNA DE SÃO PAULO, LOCATED IN THE BREATHTAKING CICCILLO MATARAZZO PAVILION DESIGNED BY THE LEGENDARY OSCAR NIEMEYER. THIS INVITATION HAS TOUCHED MY HEART AND INSPIRED ME TO RETURN TO BRAZIL, BUT I NEED HELP TO MAKE THIS DREAM A REALITY. THROUGH THIS DROP I AM PLANNING TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THIS TRIP, AND ANY SUPPORT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO ME.” – ASTRA

MOTHER NATURE4733 x 6733 ||  Ink on paper || 2012

This drawing was created in 2012, and it talks about exploitation. The exploitation of nature is here incorporated in a female form. Gaia. We see male figures trying desperately to grab her. At the same time, the peaceful semblance she has demonstrates that despite all efforts men will not prevail. Her luscious hair, just like mine acts as tentacles and spiderwebs and is what’s keeping her safe. A vibrant, strong, thick hair that has protected and served so many for so long. A hair that is rich. The same strong hair that I fought against my whole life and that now is one of my most beautiful features. This drawing talks about a certain moment in my life when I was unhappily married and feeling totally constrained. I had just arrived in London, I was young and was trying to figure out who was this new person I had become once I arrived. And this was before I even had the chance to investigate the people I had been with. Despite not having the academic lingo to describe it back then, I felt very vividly a constant resistance to this place. I felt robbed, abused, exploited and put down so constantly and after so many years of believing that, I finally decided to untangle those knots.My heart and mind were turned to Brazil, and the longer I spent away from my country, the closer I grew fond of it. The more Brazilian I have become. Nothing like seeing things from a different perspective. I started studying so much about our history and became so curious about the root of all that it became very difficult to separate the effect from the reasoning. Therefore, this drawing is also infused with disdain for our own ways with this planet and all that live on it. It talks about a desire to win individually instead of understanding that the communal goal is where we should head.

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CHICAGO 4733 x 6733 ||  Ink on paper || 2012

This image is very colourful, surreal and full of geometric shapes. My father being an engineer had many rulers with different shapes and I used to get take them (without him knowing) so I could draw patterns in a better way. The central image is representing myself, with my mouth shut – by others but mostly, by my own hands.The relationship I had with this artist, despite brief, had many toxic and abusive traits to it. Therefore, I appear bigger than the couple acting here as a judge that in a calculated way will ponder about what they believe to be the truth or best for others. A symbolism for a justice that is blind and absent. I incorporate many elements of this work in my current pieces, such as the upside buildings and heart. Drawing upside gives us a chance to look at things from different perspective and inevitably transgress the original meaning.This drawing was made once he moved back to Chicago, and I felt like again I was being left behind. Feelings of abandonment and rejection are old friends of mine, and with the little emotional intelligence I had back then I can see how I escalated the fact that he simply had to go home, transforming his action in a personal attack to myself.The hearts here seem to be falling and will eventually drop dead as they usually they do. I played with geometric forms trying to convey some characteristics of Chicago, like the wind and intense cold. The whole image is broken by many lines and shapes, and this is due to the confusing way my thoughts present itself in this world.Chicago is a place from my memory that I have never been. My father told me stories about the time he travelled to America and a particular episode that his shoes were stuck in the heavy snow. The way he described the heavy winds, and unbearable cold is something that stuck with me.I was 21 years old when I’ve drawn Chicago. Such a young mind yet carrying a lot in their back already. This excessively colourful image attempts to hide, just like a chameleon, the grey of my life. In the end of the day, this is a means to deviate the attention of the main topic – which was, I feel incredibly lonely.

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SWINGERS HEAVEN 4733 x 6733 ||  Ink on paper || 2012

The sketch for this was made in 2007. I remember the night I’ve drawn this and it is another important piece in my career. This was the first time I finished a whole drawing in a considerable large scale. Swinger’s Heaven is the first major piece of my artistic career.In 2007 I met an artist from Chicago when he was travelling to Rio. I can say I was very inspired during our tubules encounter and our short affair. I had, at the time, a pretty unconventional lifestyle. I had been a free spirit since I can remember myself in this body. This is important to keep in mind considering I’ve drawn this at 21 years old.This drawing started very intuitively, and one person after the other started to appear. The one that gets created inevitably starts the connection with the one who follows.The desire for freedom is at the core of our humanity.And at the core of all living things in this planet.The pursue of freedom will make us take a number of different paths, all in hope to lead us to the Dream.Perhaps this image also translates my own ideas about sexuality and freedom in life. The human-like figures appear floating around and trying to engage with as many people as they can.Everything is open and allowed, and all everyone wants is to explore.