Articles About Me

I have been fascinated by Persian and Mughal miniature paintings from the Indian sub-continent since childhood. I used to look at them in books for hours during my school years. At the Fine Arts College in Hyderabad I copied a few and created some new compositions closely based on them. But then I moved away from these as I realized that I do not want to make copies. I want to search for my own vision and technique. After several years of painting in free style and doing large abstracts works, I started my continuous line figure compositions. I began working in this style after moving to the U.S. I was homesick and nostalgic. I wanted to tell stories of my journey from Hyderabad to Iran to Kuwait and to the East Coast of the U.S. I began using my paintings to tell stories: that was the genesis in 1998 of the “Golden Moments” series, which I developed concurrently with other works.

I have always admired the jewel-like quality of miniature paintings and illuminated books from the Indian subcontinent. They are treasured for their artistry, fine colors, and polished finishes. The paintings were created from nature, from pulp to paper, and from mineral to paint. I want to maintain that devotion, but use my knowledge of contemporary painting techniques. Being a mixed media artist I choose wood panels to work on, as they allow me maximum facility to use different materials with acrylic paints. I do not want to do very small pieces, so I use 18” X 18” or 21” X 21” square boards. I select a square shape since I want to use another square to glue on the board to create three-dimensional effects, and also to accent the compositions. Then I prepare the wood surface by applying three separate coats of gesso. I work with several color glazes instead of mixing colors on the palette and in between I use sandpaper to remove portions of the paint and add details with pen and ink. The process intoxicates me, and it also starts creating the story. I start with a very rough idea, and it slowly develops. I try to maintain the jewel-like quality of original miniatures, so I like to give a final glaze of an actual gold color. These pieces allow me to sit and meditate in between my other large and free-flowing works.

The primary and original aim of miniature paintings, whether religious, epic, or portrait, was to tell a story. What better style to tell my own stories?

        “Blue God I” by Salma Arastu

The Hindu Lord Krishna began to dance his way back into Salma Arastu’s paintings, years after her conversion to Islam. How and why did it happen?

I wanted to tell this story in “Painting Past Borders,” my article in the July/August issue of Tikkun, but didn’t have the space.

Looking through Arastu’s beautiful art book, I became curious about her “Blue God” series. Like the rest of her work, the lyrical lines in this series echo the flow of Arabic calligraphy, which the artist studied after leaving behind her Hindu past and embracing Islam. But the paintings also hint at the Hindu stories of her childhood, weaving together both of her spiritual lives. How did Lord Krishna dance back into Arastu’s paintings?

Here’s the story she told me:

Until I was twenty-four, these [Hindu gods] were images in my eyes. I had been a very spiritual person because my mother was very, very spiritual. We were always supposed to get up in the morning, have a bath and do prayers. We had a small temple in the house; we had everything there: Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, everything. That’s how I grew up-reading those stories, listening to those stories.

When I was very young, my mother used to say Lord Krishna is the one who will always love you. Don’t ever think nobody’s there to love you, because he loves love-he’s all love. It was an image she had given me of Lord Krishna. He was always in my mind.

Photo of Salma Arastu by Sabiha Basrai

I don’t deny that after marriage [and converting to Islam] I tried to hold myself back and not think in that direction. And in a way I liked it because I liked abstraction more than the images. Because I felt that images were distracting, but this [Islamic] meditation is free-I can look at the sky and just pray, look at the water and just pray-I don’t have to look at the images to pray. So I liked it and I’ve continued, and my mind is trained like that now.

But now after many years, when I’m trying to depict love and harmony in my paintings … I think it came when I was doing Sufism. Sufism is all about love. Islam is all about love. Christianity is all about love.

So I think somehow it came back to me: Lord Krishna, that is. That he is surrounded by all these village women and he’s playing the flute and they are all losing their minds and they’re so happy to be in his presence. This image really appealed to me. It’s coming in a very abstract form, but it’s come in quite a few paintings recently. So I call it the “Blue God” series.

I’m inspired by how Arastu has managed to paint beyond borders and find bridges between her religious and familial communities. Tikkun’s art director, Sabiha Basrai from Design Action Collective in Oakland, is also excited about Arastu’s work. Here’s what Sabiha — a Californian with ties to both India and Islam — wrote for Tikkun after visiting Salma Arastu’s studio:

I am always glad to meet other Muslim women like me whose faith and culture inspire creativity and compels us to promote social justice in all aspects of our lives.

    Sabiha Basrai

Salma grew up in a Hindu family in India, and later embraced Islam through marriage. She told me that the transition was very easy and natural; that although her rituals changed, her faith stayed the same. Her Hindu family and Muslim in-laws have all supported her decisions and encouraged her career as a painter. Salma feels only the love that unites us all. Being in her studio brought out those same feelings within me-love, harmony, and peace came through her paintings, which were scattered around the space. Some of her canvasses were huge-the colorful images towered above me and left me feeling calm.

Salma and I are both part of the Dawoodi Bohra community-a sect of Shiite Islam predominantly made up of Indians and Pakistanis. We are about one million strong, worldwide and our traditions are very uniquely South Asian. Our cuisine, language, and dress are all infused with Indian culture. I was raised in a Bohra family-my parents moved to California from India and I grew up experiencing both Eastern and Western cultures. Salma understands this duality having raised her children in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she and her husband settled after leaving India and living in Iran and Kuwait.

“Abstract people dance across her giant canvasses, which hover and throb with rich colors and an aching sense of peace,” wrote Alana Price of Indian-born artist Salma Arastu in the current Tikkun (on newsstands now). A Hindu by upbringing and a Muslim by marriage, Arastu has been deeply influenced by the flowing lines of Arabic calligraphy, and by the understanding that God is one and we are all one. Come back next week to read Alana’s supplementary Web feature about how Lord Krishna began to dance his way back into Arastu’s paintings through her “Blue God” series, which is featured below, along with a behind-the-scenes photo essay of her art studio. Visit Arastu’s website to learn more about her work and order her beautiful book.

Salma Arastu has been painting for thirty some years. Born into Sindhi and Hindu tradition in India, she later embraced Islam through her marriage. She has traveled extensively and lived in various countries–India, Iran, Kuwait, UK, Germany and finally the US, where she moved in 1987. In her work, she tries to bring together Eastern spiritualityand western techniques of painting, learned over the years.

Three elements are strong influences in her work: Folk art, miniature art and Arabic calligraphy, all adopted along her journeys. Seeing the unity of an all-encompassing God, she was able to transcend barriers often set forth in the traditions of religion, culture and the cultural perceptions of handicaps–she was born with no fingers on her left hand.

Her personal triumphs have been defined and shaped by the simple principle of faith in the divine power, the compelling force which has guided her life and work. As both a Hindu and Muslim woman, a multi-cultural artist, and a mother, she sees unique opportunity in creating harmony and world transformation through the expression of the universe in her art.

Sufi series I
Mixed media on canvas
36 x 24

Sharing Light
Mixed Media on Canvas
38 x 48

The Homeless I
Mixed media on board
38 x 48

Conversation with the artist

What is the inspiration behind your work?

Well, I cannot deny the influence of Paul Klee, Miro and Picasso from Europe, M.F. Husain and Amrita Shergil from India. I liked the human figure and I admired what these artists had done with them. I wanted to break the traditions and create something new with the figures which would convey my feelings of love, peace, unity, sharing and celebration of life. I have worked hard for several years to achieve this, and I think today I have successfully developed my own interpretation and form. My story begins with a lyrical line and this same lyrical line allows me to design Arabic calligraphy or draw abstract images of crowds of people with same facility. My inspiration is my faith and it keeps me motivated to do more and more. Painting is a way of worship for me.

Tell us about your journey? How did you become an artist? Did you receive any formal training?

Art is my need; a need to express and reach out. From my childhood days, I felt that I had something important to say and I used to doodle a lot. I have been painting for more than thirty years. I earned my degrees in Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Jawaharlal University, Hyderabad in 1971 and later in 1974 from the MS University in Baroda, India. I have traveled extensively–from India to Iran to Kuwait to UK, Germany and to the US. And last year, I moved from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to the East Bay. I have lived for long periods with amazing people and fascinating communities. Folk art, miniature art and Arabic calligraphy are three strong influences on my art, adopted along my journeys.

Describe your style? What medium do you work in?

I am creating a body of work of through a continuous, lyrical line to express joy in the universal spirit that unites humanity. This lyrical line has been my guide over the blank surface of the canvas. With years of practice, it has become freer and more energetic. It has allowed me to create calligraphic designs or a flow of humanity with same facility. I want to spread God’s love by bringing all people together with this single line of positive energy. I have created several pieces that show unity and celebration together. In my art, people are not given any identity and thus represent the entirety of humanity without differences. I recreate these visions which show people in celebrations, visiting neighbors, family reunions, celebration of life, glow of unity and hope of the new earth. I am inspired by Arabic calligraphy and Persian and Mughal miniature arts but my work is very contemporary. I mix both the worlds-Eastern spirituality and Western techniques effortlessly and the results are very original and colorful and lyrical. I paint, sculpt and I am also a print maker. My paintings are varied in sizes and range is from 60”/90” to 20”/20” and I work on paper, board or canvas.

Technically, my work is evolving, and I keep exploring new materials and mediums to convey my expressions. I often use paper, fiber, molding paste etc. to create textured surfaces on which I paint with thin layers of acrylic paints or glazes. Recently, I have started using copper figures on these textured surfaces which give a unique glow to my compositions. I often add fine details with pen & ink as if embroidering them and thus finally bringing the piece together.

What would you consider your biggest success as an artist?

Alhamdulillah I am grateful and here are some achievements listed by the media:

How has your work been received by the world and what is next for you?

I am grateful to God as I get very good feedback from my art patrons. They find my work joyful and peaceful. My greatest pleasure is when people find the same message from my paintings that I try to convey. I am attempting to create a world through my art work in which the magic of communion plays a central role. My subjects include people, who do everything together. They initiate each other, they celebrate together, they grieve together, they pray together. In this global world, it is important that we understand each other, accept each other with our differences, and emerge as one human community for the success of humanity.