ARTIST STATEMENT
My works are lyrical, spiritual, layered and flowing, revealing the stories of unity in diversity, hope and connection, celebration of earth and women. The common thread running through my work is that I am seeking oneness. My story begins with a line and the lines that I create represent the spiritual energy that emanates from my soul. Now these moving lines are discovering mycelium networks under the earth, promising to sustain us all by connecting and bringing together humanity, soil, and soul. Our survival is hidden in these entangled connections. I have immersed myself in research to gain a deeper knowledge of science and faith to find remedies to save our planet and its ecosystems.
Arabic Calligraphy, miniatures, and the folk art are strong influence on my work. I have tried to bring together Eastern spirituality and Western techniques of painting learned over the years. Through the contrasting elements in my work, I yearn and search for unity and balance. In present series I create a visual discourse to connect science and faith, connecting the human soul to the soil. Symbolically I started sewing gifts from nature on burlaps and other surfaces to connect the two. We dwell in the sacred reflection of the divine in the life forms that draw us to them. Thus, we communicate our joy, passion, and grief, in the living exchange from soil to soul, and it is a mysterious ongoing dialogue.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
As a woman, artist, and mother, I work to create harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, and calligraphy. Inspired by the imagery, sculpture, and writings of my Indian heritage and Islamic spirituality, I use my artistic voice to break down the barriers that divide to foster peace and understanding. At birth I was given the life-defining challenge of a left hand without fingers. Seeing the unity of an all-encompassing God, I was able to transcend the barriers often set-forth in the traditions of religion, culture, and the cultural perceptions of handicaps. After graduating in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, I lived and worked in Iran and Kuwait before landing in Pennsylvania, USA in 1986.
I have presented my work at Westphalia Wilhelm University in Münster Germany, Stanford University, Commonwealth of San Francisco, Seattle University, Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, and Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis Missouri. As a visual artist I have had 45 solo shows nationally and internationally and have won several prestigious awards including the East Bay Community’s Fund for Artists in 2012 and 2014 and 2020. The City of Berkeley’s Individual Artist Grant Award in 2014, 2015, and 2016. I have public art pieces on display in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and San Diego, California and I have also written and published five books on my art and poetry including my recent with ecological consciousness from Quranic verses “Our Earth: Embracing All Communities.”
© Salma Arastu