Russian artist Sasha Frolova is often likened to Lady Gaga and Marina Abramovic. Her costume work cleverly blends elements of performance art with sculptural and electronic musical ingenuity, creating playful narratives which challenge the status quo.
Former Alternative Miss World 2014, Sasha Frolova, is a member of the International Federation of Artists. She is also the author of the musical project, Aquaaerobika – drawing its inspiration from Elektropop, 8-bit music and disco-house. These brilliant pop-art presentations feature inflatable décor and dancers in Bauhaus style avant-garde; converting the artist’s live performances into one massive work of art.
Within her live presentations, the artist-designer dances like an anime hero, singing psychedelic love songs as she shows off her massive sculptural latex costumes.
“My character is a mixture of retro-animation of 30s, pin-up style of 50s, futuristic movies and comics of 60s, Japanese anime and computer games of 80s”
Source: Metal Magazine
Frolova’s Colourful Creations
Frolova‘s creations can be spotted throughout her native Russia, ranging from outside garden displays to interiors of modernised buildings. She says of her work,
“I think that the main job of an artist is to create a parallel reality. The parallel reality made from the artist’s creativity and filled with the artist’s works of art”
Source: Euronews
In 2017, Frolova’s blown-up sculptures were on larger-than-life display in a solo show at the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia.
Frolova told Vogue that her primary aim is to bring joy to others through her sculptures and live performances.
“Art should be beautiful and positive. If people see something beautiful, they feel better,” she says. “This is a small part in how to save the world—through happiness.”
Frolova’s work is steadily gaining international acclaim. Her inflatable Marie Antionette-like figure (debuting in summer 2019), became an instant Instagram hit.
“I went from 3,000 followers to almost 20,0000.”
Source: Vogue
Frolova is the face of the Swiss cosmetics company Meder Beauty (wearing a full latex mask, naturally).
Nicole Kidman even features in W’s Best Performances of 2019 for Boy Erased and Destroyer in a Frolova latex costume – accompanied by Frolova’s Antoinette.
NFT Drop
Technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in the avant-garde runway’s creative and experimental atmosphere.
In response, Frolova has recently ventured into the world of NFTs – releasing her first drop of purely digital designs on Artisant. These garments can be viewed as art or applied to your real photos. In a July instagram post, the artists explains that she has made her first drop of 3 digital latex costumes, available for purchase on @artisant.io.
“It is beautiful and inspiring that NFT provides digital art with real depth and uniqueness. This is a fresh opportunity for independent artists – both in terms of creativity and authenticity.”
As technology blurs the line between physical and digital art, this collection touches on the idea of a digital paradise, where there is no longer a border between the real and the digital.
“The first drop on Artisant is dedicated to digital immortality… It seemed magical that my costumes from the Aquaaerobika and Fontes Amoris projects have gained eternal digital life. And they still remain the artistic statement that conveys my perception of the world. Time has no power over the digital space — this is the main idea of the drop. The objects, images, clothing, and art created there cannot become outdated, wear out or disintegrate into atoms.”
Source: Instagram
A Cult Following
Frolova’s work literally redefines the phrase ‘visually appealing’.
“I’m not a fetishist, but I absolutely love latex,” she says. “This material has a connotation of being erotic, but on the other side, it’s used for balloons and toys, and looks very childish. I like how these two contexts combine together—it’s naive and sexual at the same time.”
Source: Vogue
The avant-garde artist’s unconventional approach to performance art has also gained her a cult following on Instagram and Twitter.
Throughout her insanely beautiful collections, Frolova dresses in latex from head to toe, assuming a variety of personas; the most prominent of which is “Aquaaerobika”… A pseudo-pop diva with a massive bouffant hairstyle and a Runway week-worthy balloon gown. Frolova can be been seen wearing these half-extraterrestrial, half-human costumes at gallery openings, art festivals, and fashion events around the globe.
For additional eyegasms, check out Aquaaerobika’s Ice Cream clip, below.
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