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Salma Arastu

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Salma Arastu[1] (born 1950, Rajasthan, India) is an internationally exhibited woman artist known for her unique global perspective, reflecting her diverse cultural background and experiences. Born in Rajasthan, India, Aratsu pursued her formal education in Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India. She was raised in the Sindhi and Hindu traditions and later embraced Islam and moved to the USA in 1986, currently residing in California. As a woman, artist, and mother, Arastu's creative endeavors aim to foster harmony and express the universality of humanity through various art forms, including paintings, sculpture, and poetry.[2][3][4][5][6] She has also worked extensively with calligraphy and produces greeting cards for the American Muslim community.[7]

Arastu has been exhibiting her paintings for over last forty five years in India, Iran, Kuwait, Germany and the United States, having more than sixty solo and group exhibitions.[4][6][8] Furthermore, her work has been placed in many museums around world for example, State Museum of Art, Harrisburg, PA, Museum Of Modern Art, Hyderabad, India, Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, Missouri, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, 9/11 Memorial Museum, New York, NY, Islamic Museum of Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[3][9][1] Her exhibitions have been held in notable places e.g. Stanford Art Spaces, Stanford University, Art Museum, Radford University,[10][11][12] and she has earned several awards for her work.[3][13][14][15]

Artistic Style and Inspirations

Arastu's art is deeply influenced by the imagery, sculpture, and writings of both her Indian heritage and Islamic spirituality.[16][13]

The artist's experiences in different cultures around the world have further enriched her artistic style. While living and working in Iran and Kuwait, she was exposed to a wealth of Islamic arts and Arabic calligraphy, which continue to inspire her work to this day.[16]

Exhibitions and Recognition

Arastu's artistic achievements have led to invitations to various esteemed institutions and events. She presented her work and delivered talks at Stanford University, Commonwealth of San Francisco, Seattle University, Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, and the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in St. Louis, Missouri. Additionally, she was invited to Germany twice, once as a Resident Artist in Schwabisch Gmund in 2000 and later by the Westphalia Wilhelm University in Münster in 2011.[1]

In March 2018, Salma Arastu participated in a one-month Artist Residency Program in Morocco, hosted by the Green Olives art Gallery[16].

Some of her awards are following[1].

  • 2020 East Bay Community Foundation’s "Fund for Artists", Oakland, CA
  • 2016 City of Berkeley Individual artist grant, Berkeley, CA
  • 2015 City of Berkeley Individual artist grant, Berkeley, CA
  • 2014 City of Berkeley Individual artist grant, Berkeley, CA
  • 2014 East Bay Community Foundation’s "Fund for Artists", Oakland, CA
  • 2012 East Bay Community Foundation’s "Fund for Artists", Oakland, CA
  • 2005 Honorable Mention, Lehigh Art Alliance Show, Bethlehem, PA
  • 2004 First Place, Northeastern Regional Art Show, Marywood University, Scranton, PA
  • 2004 First Place, Lehigh Art Alliance Annual Show, Bethlehem, PA
  • 2001 Honorable Mention, Berks Art Alliance Show, Reading Art Museum, Reading, PA
  • 2001 Honorable Mention, Harrisburg Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
  • 2000 Quakertown National Bank Award, Lehigh Art Alliance Show, Bethlehem, PA
  • 1995 Second Prize in Works on Paper, Soho, New York, NY
  • 1995 Second Place in Painting, West Park Civic Association, Allentown, PA
  • 1992 Best Painting Award, Easton Hospital’s Annual Show, Easton, PA
  • 1988 Best Painting Award, Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, PA
  • 1980 First Place Award in Painting, AP Lalit Kala Academy, India
  • 1979 First Place Award in Painting, Bhartiya Kala Parishad, India
  • 1974 First Place Award in Etching, Gujarat Lalit Kala Academy, India
  • 1973 Scholarship Award to study master’s Program at MS University, India

Works and Themes

Arastu's works[16] delve into themes of unity in diversity, hope, connection, celebration of the earth and women, and seeking oneness among humanity, soil, and soul. Her art carries a strong ecological consciousness, exemplified in her series "Mycelial Flow" and "Tiny Creatures: Our Invisible Sustainers." In these series, she explores the intricate relationships between organisms, drawing attention to the vital role of microbes in sustaining the ecosystem[15].

Through her physical and meditative artistic process, Arastu fills her canvases with moving lines and multi-layered textures. She employs various materials, including paper, rope, modeling paste, paper-mache, copper plate, pen, and ink, to create mesmerizing compositions that reveal subliminal images[16].

Publications and Legacy

Salma Arastu is also an accomplished writer, having authored and published five books on her art and poetry:

  • Celebration of calligraphy[1]
  • Our Earth: Embracing All Communities[1]
  • The Lyrical Line[1]
  • Turning Rumi[1]
  • Unity of Sacred Texts and Symbols[1]

Her dedication to creativity and love for creation have become sources of eternal joy and constant inspiration in her life. Through her art, Salma Arastu hopes to spread joy, blessings, and positive inspiration, reflecting her deep connection with humanity and the world around her[15][16].

Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions

Salma Arastu has had more than sixty solo exhibitions and even more group exhibitions.[3][4][9][17] Some of her selected solo exhibitions are following[1].

  • 2023 We Are All One, Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery, San Ramon, CA
  • 2021 Abrams Claghorn Gallery, Our Earth: Embracing All Communities, Albany, CA
  • 2021 Think Round Fine Art, Meditations on Rumi, San Francisco, CA
  • 2020 Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Memory Vignettes, Oakland, CA
  • 2019 Graduate Theological Institute Library Gallery, Seeking Oneness, Berkeley, CA
  • 2018 Arts at CIIS, Myth & Mystery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2018 Musical Bridges Gallery, Celebrating the Art Of Calligraphy, San Antonio, TX
  • 2017 ArtReach, First Congregational Church, Portland, OR
  • 2016 Peninsula Art Museum, Burlingame, CA
  • 2015 Multicultural Center, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
  • 2015 Museum of Contemporary Religious Art. St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO
  • 2015 Levantine Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2014 Robert Graves Gallery, Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, WA
  • 2014 Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
  • 2013 Art @ the Y, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
  • 2013 Expressions Gallery, Berkeley, CA
  • 2012 Dominican University Gallery, San Rafael, CA
  • 2012 King Gallery, Unitarian Universalist at San Francisco, CA
  • 2011 A temporary exhibition, Art in Embassies, US Department of State, US Embassy Rangoon, Burma
  • 2011 Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA
  • 2009 California Institute of Integral Studies Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2009 Kalart Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2008 Community Gallery, Alta Bates, Berkeley, CA
  • 2008 Hot Mango Pickle Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
  • 2007 Monsoon Galleries, Bethlehem, PA
  • 2007 Chandler Fine Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2006 September: Artjaz Gallery in Philadelphia, PA[3][18]
  • 2005 September: The Hope Horn Gallery Scranton University, Scranton PA[3][19]
  • 2005 April: Penn State University gallery at Berks campus Reading PA
  • 2005 February: Radford University Art Museum, Radford University, Radford, VA[10]
  • 2004 May: The Art Alliance, Cornwell, Upstate New York
  • 2004 April: Gelabert Studios Gallery, New York, NY[2][3]
  • 2003 April: Artjaz Gallery, Philadelphia, PA[3][18]
  • 2003 April: Black Cultural Center, Lafayette College, and Easton, PA[20]
  • 2002 May: Barns and Noble, Broadway, New York
  • 2002 April: Open Space Gallery, Allentown, PA
  • 2000 September: ArtJaz Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
  • 2000 June: Sweet cream cafe gallery, Strousburg, PA
  • 2000 An Invitational exhibition of paintings and six-week residency program in Schwabisch Gmund, Germany. 15 March 2000 to the end of April 2000.
  • 1999 Reading Art Museum. Reading, PA[21]
  • 1998 Art Gallery De Art Magic, Easton, PA
  • 1998 Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
  • 1998 A Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1997 The Gallery at Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, PA
  • 1997 Hub Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA
  • 1993 Design Accent, Allentown, PA.
  • 1992 Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA.
  • 1992 Powers Art Gallery, East Strousburg University, PA.
  • 1991 Fine Arts Commission, Rotunda Gallery, Bethlehem, PA.
  • 1989 Springer Gallery, Allentown, PA.
  • 1989 DuBois Gallery & Display Cases Maginnes Hall, Lehigh University,
  • 1989 John's United Church of Christ, Kutztown, PA. East Penn Emerging Art 1986 Boushari Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
  • 1984 British Council Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
  • 1981 Kala Bhavan Gallery, Hyderabad, India.
  • 1979 Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi, India.
  • 1978 Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
  • 1977 Art Gallery, Hotel Intercontinental, Tehran, Iran.
  • 1976 Kala Bhavan Gallery, Hyderabad, India.
  • 1975 Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad, India.
  • 1973 Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Calcutta, India.

Some of her selected group exhibitions[1]:

  • 2023 The Natural Other, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA
  • 2023 Bay Area figurative from Abstraction, Uncle Credit Union gallery, Livermore, CA
  • 2023 Women of Northern California: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
  • 2023 Stories from My Childhood: NIU Art Museum, Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL
  • 2022 The Language of Nature: Luna Gallery, San Juan Bautista, CA
  • 2022 Essential Truths: bay Area Artists in Color, Sanchez Art center, Pacifica, CA
  • 2022 Eco-artwork: 11 Artists from 8 Countries, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2022 THE WILD SIDE: California Women Celebrate the Untamed, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2021 Four Squared at Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2021 Deadlocked and Loaded at ArtRage Gallery, Syracuse, NY
  • 2021 Women Eco Artists Dialogue group show, Traces at Danville Village Art Gallery, CA
  • 2020 The Writing is on the Wall at K Gallery, Rhythmix Cultural Center, Alameda, CA
  • 2020 Work & Worship at Abrams Claghorn Gallery, Berkeley, CA
  • 2020 The Word at Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2019 Forty-Eight Pillars, Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • 2018 Universal Messages: New Vistas Berkeley Art Center, CA
  • 2017 Art as Spiritual Metaphor: Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA
  • 2017 Crossing to Safety at Abrams Claghorn Gallery, Berkeley, CA
  • 2016 2015 Novus Conceptum at Hannah Bacol Busch Gallery, Bellaire, TX
  • 2015 Juanita Salazar Lowe Art Gallery, Imperial Valley College, Imperial, CA
  • 2015 Intersections: Asian American Narratives, Lindsay Dirkx Brown Art Gallery, San Ramon, CA
  • 2015 'Serenity' at UCSF Women's Health Center, San Francisco, CA
  • 2015, Living with Endangered Languages: Root Division, San Francisco, CA
  • 2014 Sacred Voices: Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH
  • 2013 UnderCurrents: SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA
  • 2013 Echo of Islam: Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
  • 2012 Honoring Women Rights: The National Steinbeck Center, Salinas Valley,CA
  • 2012 Invoking Peace: Euphart Art Museum, De Anza College, Cupertino,CA
  • 2012 Muslim Eye: Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA
  • 2012 Picturing the word: The Visuality of Text at Doug Adams Gallery, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
  • 2011 Offerings: Town of Danville Art Gallery, Danville,CA
  • 2010 Visions of Paradise: Art & The Power of Faith at Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma,CA
  • 2010 The Visuality of Text at Doug Adams Gallery, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley,CA
  • 2010 The Art Gallery at Cleveland University, Cleveland, OH
  • 2009 Exaltation of the Insignificant: Terra Galleria, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2009 March-April: Terra Galleria, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2009 Expressions Gallery. Berkeley, CA
  • 2008 "Silk Road," GE corporate headquarters, Fairfield, CT
  • 2008 "Erasing Borders," traveling show, New York, NY
  • 2008 "American South Asian Art Festival," Santa Monica Art Studios, Santa Monica, CA
  • 2008 "Beaux & Eros 2008," Peninsula Museum of Art, Belmont, CA
  • 2007 "Expanding Circles," Delaware Contemporary Center for Arts, Wilmington, DE
  • 2007 "Artists from Oakland," Nest Gallery, Oakland, CA
  • 2007 National juried show at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
  • 2007 Stanford Art Spaces, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
  • 2007 "Women on the Verge," Spring collection 2007, Laguna Beach, CA
  • 2006-2007 Four shows sponsored by Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in State College, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia, PA
  • 2006 "In a State of Emergency," Alwan for the Arts, New York, NY
  • 2006 "Eyes on Me: Portraits of Muslim Women," Gruss Center of Visual Arts, The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ
  • 2005 Spring show, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
  • 2005 Space Spurgeon Gallery, Santa Ana, CA
  • 2004 State College Gallery, State College, PA
  • 2003 Berks Art Alliance, Reading Museum, Reading, PA
  • 2003 "Muslim Women Artists," Anne Fisher Gallery, Washington, DC
  • 2003 "Muslim Women Artists," Ramone Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2002 Book Exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Costa Rica
  • 2002 Diversity Art Gallery, Clark, NJ
  • 2002 Berks Art Alliance, Reading Art Museum, Reading, PA
  • 2001 ArtJaz Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
  • 2001 Annual juried exhibition, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
  • 2001 Miniature art show, Banana Factory, Bethlehem, PA
  • 1999 M A C Show, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
  • 1999 M A C show, Ramsey’s II, Pittsburgh, PA
  • 1999 Invitational show at United Nations’ Turkish Plaza, New York, NY
  • 1999 Asian American Arts Center, New York, NY
  • 1999 Gallery at 678, New York, NY
  • 1997 CCC Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1997 Minority Arts Council Show, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1997 Doshi Center for Contemporary Art, Harrisburg, PA
  • 1997 Permanent Mission of India, New York, NY
  • 1997 Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
  • 1996 Main Street Gallery, Nyack, NY
  • 1996 Bixler's Gallery, Stroudsburg, PA
  • 1995 Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA
  • 1994 Museum Of Natural History, New York, NY
  • 1994 Ceres Art Gallery, New York, NY
  • 1994 La Mama La Gallery, New York, NY

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Resume – Salma Arastu". salmaarastu.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "welcome to salma arustu". Salma Arustu. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Bio: Salma Arastu". Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  4. ^ a b c "Indo-American Arts Council". Indo-American Arts Council. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  5. ^ "SAWCC: Shaken and Stirred Visual Arts". SAWCC.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  6. ^ a b "South Asian Women's Creative Collection". skidmore.edu. Retrieved 23 April 2007. [dead link‍]
  7. ^ Moore, Haddad, Smith (2006) p. 139
  8. ^ "Women's Caucus for Art: Northern California Chapter". ncwca.org. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Biography: Salma Arastu". mesart.com. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  10. ^ a b "RU Museum Current Exhibitions". radford.edu. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  11. ^ "SAS Exhibition". stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  12. ^ "illustration & Paintings, Stanford Galleries, San Jose Mercury News". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
  13. ^ a b Winston, Kimberly (11 February 2020). "With canvas and Quran, one artist aims to make Islamic calligraphy a universal language". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Oneness Projects – Connecting Humanity, Soil and Soul". onenessprojects.org. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  15. ^ a b c Stories, Local (24 April 2023). "Meet Salma Arastu - Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide". voyagela.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Bio – Salma Arastu". salmaarastu.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Event showcases Islam artists, poets, musicians". Daily Targum. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  18. ^ a b "Art Jaz Gallery - Salma Arastu". artjaz. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  19. ^ "The University of Scranton- The hope Horn Gallery". scranton.edu. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  20. ^ "Work by Five Women Artists on Display at Black Cultural center". lafayette.edu. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  21. ^ "Reading Public Museum: Discovery Through Art, Science and Civilization". Reading Public Museum. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2007.

References

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