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Salma Arastu was born in Rajasthan, India. She has been painting for more than thirty years, since earning her degree in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India in 1974.
Her work with continuous and lyrical line is influenced by her native culture and her residence after marriage in Iran and Kuwait before coming to the US in 1987.
Born into the Sindhi and Hindu tradition in her native India, she later embraced Islam through her marriage. At birth, Ms. Arastu was given the life-defining challenge of a left hand without fingers. 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. Her personal triumphs have been defined and shaped by the simple principle of faith in The Divine, the compelling force which has guided her life and work. As a woman, a Hindu, a Muslim and a multi-cultural artist and a mother, she sees a unique opportunity to create harmony and world transformation through the expression of the Universal in her art.
She has exhibited her work in India, the USA and Europe. Many of her works are in private and public collections. In addition to her prolific painting, Ms. Arastu has also written several published works of free verse poetry and short stories in her native Hindi. Her collection of poems “Dard Ki Seedhiyan” (Steps of Pain) in Hindi language was published in 1981 with a grant from Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Kala Academy, Hyderabad, India.
And now in December 2008, her new book of art and poems in English is published by Half Full Press from Oakland California in their series of Emerging American Artists program. The book is titled “ The Lyrical line” and has more than 100 images of her works from last 10 years. About her book Salma says: “My paintings celebrate life. In this art book I have tried to trace with lines and color a trajectory of the human emotions that all of us feel no matter where we are from and what our individual situations are.
Over the last ten years, with paintings, sculptures and my poems I have tried to convey messages of unity, diversity, peace, spirituality and also reflections of the Divine that dwell within us all.
Through the pages of this book, I want to share these messages with those who may spend a bit of time with it that we need to celebrate ‘the gift of life’ on this earth, moment by precious moment.” The book is available for purchase through her website: www.salmaarastu.com
Shortly after arriving in the US, she also became an entrepreneur with the creation of Your True Greetings, a successful greeting card company that uses her paintings and calligraphy to serve the needs of Muslim communities in the US, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Her studio is located at 2547 8th Street, studio# 31, Berkeley, CA 94608
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