INTERVIEW: Salma Arastu, designer & artist
January 29th, 2009 by Menachem Wecker
According to her website, Salma Arastu was born in Rajasthan, India, into the Sindhi and Hindu tradition, but later embraced Islam through her marriage. She has been painting for more than 30 years and earned a fine arts degree from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India in 1974. Her native culture and residence in Iran and Kuwait influenced her “continuous and lyrical line.” She move to the United States, where she still lives, in 1987. Please also see her site for Islamic greeting cards.
MW: Are you comfortable being identified as a religious or spiritual artist? What do the terms mean to you?
SA: I would rather be known as spiritual artist and not religious because in my opinion, spirituality is the essence of any religion. Religion, if not understood correctly, could create differences, spirituality brings together.
MW: Your Islamic greeting cards take a style that involves painstaking detail and a strong emphasis on materials and convert them to digital images. How do you ensure that nothing gets lost in translation?
SA: The technology today is wonderful. Scanners, digital cameras and Photoshop… all this is amazing! I do not have any problems at all in translation. I love doing detailed work as it is kind of a meditation for me. It releases the stress.
MW: In the Allah Tiles series, to what extent is it the artist’s responsibility to ensure that those who purchase series with God’s name treat the tiles respectfully?
SA: I trust the person who is purchasing the tiles to give due respect to Allah’s name. On my part, I do advise if asked, about the display possibilities. If there would be any malicious and disrespectful use and display of the tiles I have the artist’s copyright laws to protect me. So far there has been no occasion for me to invoke those laws.
MW: You write on your site that the tiles were responses to global doubt and disbelief toward Islam. Do you feel that the series helped? Is it dangerous as an artist to measure your success in activist terms?
SA: Yes I did this project after 9/11 as an art project with which I wanted my fellow American artists and friends to understand Islam. It is also a tribute to my Allah SWT and to certain extent I did succeed. I am not an activist by nature but at that moment of confusion and insecurity, I surrendered to His Majesty. I prayed that since His Beautiful Names contain all Wisdom, let Him guide us to right path, “Sirathul Mustaqeem.”
MW: You write about the Arabic Calligraphy series that you had an opportunity to study at the Kuwait National Museum. Can you describe what that was like? Were there certain pieces in the museum’s collection that stand out in your mind?
SA: Well there were very early Quranic verses written in the Abbasid and Ummyad periods. I was especially drawn towards the Nastliq style of writing from Iran. The words just flowed into sentences. I was fascinated to see this beautiful writing on vessels, ceramic plates, leather bags or glass lamps. The calligraphic compositions sometimes to shapes of familiar objects, flowers, birds and animals and sometimes they were composed as designs. I felt that the calligraphic artists were masters at controlling the space on the writing surfaces.
MW: How did the experience of painting in Arabic change as you learned the language more? Do you ever feel something is lost to an artist who represents letters she or he can read and who can no longer just pay attention to forms?
SA: Surprisingly the line has been my guide on the blank canvas right from the beginning. I call it “ Lyrical line” By doing flowing Arabic Calligraphy, it became freer, fluent and energetic. It has allowed me to create Calligraphic designs or flow of humanity with the same facility. I was never after the form. It was always line color and texture- the basics of visual language. Form is the outcome of these elements.
MW: Do you purposely avoid representational work for religious reasons? What do you define as idolatry?
SA: I feel my hand is guided by a superior power. I do not paint consciously to avoid representational work for religious purposes, it just flows. As I said in the beginning, I am a very spiritual person. Abstraction suits my nature and it helps in my meditation. I agree, idols distract but it is a very personal philosophy. For some people idolatry may have some meaning, for example in algebra we need to represent abstract concepts with symbols.
MW: How did your Interfaith Tiles series come about? What sort of responses have you received?
SA: As I always dream of bringing the entire humanity together through my paintings and poems, it was but natural for me to design these different faith symbols in one mural. Interfaith is the most common way of reaching out to all. We all have become conscious of it and it is very positive. Interfaith dialogues seek the commonality rather than the differences amongst us. I have sold a few sets so far.
MW: Your bio refers to you as “a woman, a Hindu, a Muslim and a multi-cultural artist.” Can you explain to any readers who might be skeptical what it means to be both Hindu and Muslim?
SA: Well I can not deny that I was a Hindu for almost 25 years of my life. My spirituality is a gift from my mother who believed in one God though she prayed to some idols of Hindu gods. In our home, we had a temple, and grew up praying there. I can not deny my identity and when I got married and changed my religion, it never bothered me as I knew my God was coming with me. He was not going to outcast me because He is One and I will call Him Allah. My rituals of prayer would change but I am not changing. My God is not changing. And as I said earlier the abstract form of God suits my nature, as I believe we are all one and we all belong to One God. Allah is both Rehman and Rahim and He alone created Hindus and Muslims.
MW: What can Islamic art traditions contribute to Hindu-Indian art traditions and vice-versa?
SA: Being an Indian, I can proudly say that Islamic and Hindu both traditions are merged within me. Arabic Calligraphy, miniature art, Indian folk art- all are assimilated on my surfaces. Now after years of practice I can not separate the influences. Look at the Taj Mahal which is a beautiful outcome of Hindu and Islamic amalgamation of cultures.
MW: Do you prefer working on the paintings to the tiles and cards? Is your process different for the different pieces?
SA: It is again very difficult to say. Though I enjoy my paintings as they are on larger surfaces, they offer me more freedom and material choices. The paintings I do for cards or tiles are smaller and more intimate. They are a good change and rather relaxing for me.
MW: What percentage of your work do you consider religious? Do you see the act of art-making as a devotional act, or do you just see the subject matter as faith-based?
SA: Yes for me the act of art-making is a devotional act. It is a spiritual experience. As I said earlier, work just flows whether it is calligraphy or other paintings, I know in my heart that I want to do this to please my Allah, to spread His love among humans. This single motivation keeps me moving and searching for new vistas. I feel blessed and I want to spread His blessings upon me.