Makers // Adrian Clutario
Los Angeles artist, designer and self-proclaimed Valley Girl Adrian Clutario has a big personality—so big he had to share it with his drag persona, Adriana Clitaria. Ranging from furniture building to leather accessory design to performance art, Adrian’s vision for everything he produces stems from perspectives on functionality as well as testing the boundaries between masculinity and femininity.
How did you get started in design?
Well I’ve always had an interest in art as a kid, and in high school I started to develop that interest with painting and drawing that resulted in my decision to go to art school afterwards. Initially, I intended to go to Otis College of Art and Design for a degree in Fine Arts and a minor in Graphic Design, but I was drawn to the broad practice of Product Design instead.
How was your experience going to school at OTIS? What was it like transitioning from design school to a career?
My time at Otis was amazing, especially the classmates I shared my experience with. The program really catered to all types of avenues to design, which really helped cultivate my point of view as an artist/designer. However, transitioning out of school was really difficult. It’s hard when you’re submerged in a creative community for a few years and then suddenly severed from your accustomed creative family after graduation.
I’m still in the process of figuring how to balance artistic creativity with the business aspect side of things (like every small business). In school, I realized my creative process involves a lot of personal and internal depth, so my work tends to be really close to me. It’s been a learning experience to somehow manage my vulnerability on a public platform.
Any design inspirations?
Most of my work deals with gender related topics. I like to play with the semiotics of how things read as feminine, masculine, or both in my designs. In addition to the formal aspects of my designs, I consider how my designs function or perform, like how a chair might effect the way a person sits, or whether a piece might challenge a man’s masculinity. Would a man or a woman buy this? Another huge source of inspiration I draw from is drag culture. I perform in drag as Adriana Clitaria, and I like to consult with her when I’m at the drawing board. Drag is such a magnifying glass when it comes to observing and understanding gender. It was super challenging during the beginning stages of my experimentation with drag, which really helped me recode my “heteronormative” state of mind. A lot of being comfortable with the uncomfortable stuff, you know?
Tell me about any projects you’ve done that stand out to you.
For my senior thesis I designed the “Skin Vanity.” It’s a huge metal vanity I welded and then upholstered with vegan tan leather. The vanity houses objects that are respective to men and women, which are displayed in a mirrored fashion to draw similarities. I think this project stands out to me in particular because it was my first time applying gender performativity and drag in my work. Essentially, the concept was to create something that emphasized how we use and embellish our bodies to perform gender, or how we “drag” ourselves in the everyday.
What are some of your favorite things you’ve designed?
I really love my “Dippd Shelves.” They’re these shelves that I knitted and dyed out of cotton rope and dipped in cement. It was about the idea of merging craft techniques with industrial materials, which ignited my interest in applying gender studies into my work.
Who would you like to work with in the future?
It would be a dream to work with The Dairy Queens from New York. They have such a hilarious and smart perspective of drag. I would also love to collaborate with Austin Young, who is a famed drag photographer. I love how he directs his shoots of his subjects; his images are always so raw, glamorous, and surreal.
Hobbies?
A few years ago I picked up doing makeup because of my drag. It’s been an interesting creative application! I also like to swim when I can. I feel like I was a fish or a mermaid in my past life.
What’s next for you currently? Any exciting projects you’re working on at the moment?
At the moment, I’m making some new furniture that I’m debuting at West Coast Craft fair this December, and I’m making a line of leather accessories. I’m also really in love with these leather headpieces I’ve made—Adriana likes to wear them out all the time! Adriana is also coming up with some performances too!
Photography by Loren Crosier
Words by Melissa Sonico
