Tiny Creatures: Our Invisible Sustainers
by Salma Arastu
Salma Arastu, We-The Multitudes, 2023, oil pastel acrylics, pen and ink, on canvas, 30” x 48”.
August 9 – September 21, 2024
The Tiny Creatures series visualizes microbes as integral to our ecosystem. In my search to find hope and the possibility to regenerate and rejuvenate our planet and plant life I have discovered the invisible tiny benefactors Microbes who are an integral and essential part of the web of life. They carry out a variety of important ecological functions, from recycling organic matter to aiding in the carbon and nitrogen cycles, help animals ingest food by being part of the gut microbiome. Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study. They are currently being explored for construction, bioremediation, energy security and generation, and much more. If we disrupt the ecology of microbes that live in our gut, our health will suffer. If we disrupt the rich ecology of microbes that live in the soil-the guts of the planet-and the health of plants, too, will suffer. 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.
Bio
As a woman, artist, and mother, I work to create harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, and calligraphy. At birth, I was given the life-defining challenge of a left hand without fingers. Seeing the unity of an all-encompassing God, I was able to transcend the barriers often set-forth in the traditions of religion, culture and the cultural perceptions of handicaps. After graduating in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, I lived and worked in Iran and Kuwait before landing at Pennsylvania USA in 1987.
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 have always believed that moving lyrical lines that emerge in my work are symbolic in my attempt to connect all humanity and spread spiritual messages through calligraphy. Now these moving lines are discovering mycelium networks under the earth, promising to sustain us all by connecting and bringing together humanity, soil, and soul.
As a visual artist I have had almost 40 plus solo shows nationally and internationally and have won several prestigious awards including the East Bay Community’s Fund for Artists in 2012 and 2014 and 2020. the City of Berkeley’s Individual Artist Grant Award in 2014, 2015, and 2016. I have public art pieces on display in Bethlehem Pennsylvania and San Diego, California, and I have also written and published six books with art and poetry.