Salma Arastu

My works are lyrical, spiritual, figurative, and calligraphic. My paintings reveal stories of unity in diversity, hope and connection, celebration of earth, and women. I like to work in series and these series are evolved from each other and continue my intention of seeking oneness connecting humanity, soil and soul.

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 my studio mysteries are revealed each day and I feel awed and inspired to delve further into the unknown fearlessly and look out for new visions emerging on my canvas.

My story begins with line and the lines that I create represent the spiritual energy that emanates from soul. My method is a physical and meditative process that fills each canvas with moving lines and multi-layered textures. For me creating art means getting physically involved with the piece: scratching, sanding, layering materials like paper, rope, modeling paste, paper-mache or copper plate, and embroidering with pen and ink. I apply thin layers of acrylic color in between adding textures and this working process brings out subliminal images. I am also painting with rust, pastels, and using jute twine rope on handmade Korean paper Hanji and finally applying glaze to seal everything.

My two current ecologically conscious series of contemporary paintings are “Mycelial Flow” and “Tiny Creatures: Our Invisible Sustainers.” I have found myself immersed in research to gain deeper knowledge in science and faith in order to find remedies to save our planet and its ecosystems. My research led me to discover Mycelia- the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments. Through my explorations in the realm of these life-giving networks under our feet, creating visual images of these connections and collaborations satisfies my soul and I hope to bring humanity together with lessons learned from Nature.

The Tiny Creatures series visualizes microbes as integral to our ecosystem. These tiny creatures, microbes, are sustainers in the ecosystem. I feel Intrigued and inspired by their story and have created a body of work to draw attention to them.

I use acrylic thin glazes and pen & ink drawing to create a visual language for the intricate relationship between creatures swarming on my canvases in chaos like compositions. These works are imaginative and spontaneous and bring energy and hope.