Salma Arastu is a painter who grounds her giant canvases in Arabic calligraphy. For more than 30 years, she has created images with continuous, lyrical line and a variety of re-purposed materials in an effort to express joy in the universal spirit that unites humanity.

"Through my art I have been able to transcend all physical and mental limitations to create images of transformation. As a woman, Hindu, Muslim, artist and mother, I see this challenge as a unique opportunity to create harmony through the expression of the universal in my art."

Born into the Sindhi, Hindu tradition in her native India, she later embraced Islam through her marriage. At birth, 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 the barriers often set-forth in the traditions of religion, culture and the cultural perceptions of handicap.

Arastu has almost 40 solo shows to her credit, won several awards including East Bay Community’s fund for artists in 2012, three works in public places and three books published with her poems and paintings. She has been invited to Germany twice, first on artist residency in 2000. In 2011, Westphalia Wilhelm University in Münster, Germany, published her paper “Art Informed by Spirituality” in their publication on the International Symposium: ‘God Loves Beauty: Post Modern Views on Religion and Art'.