Salma Arastu with “You Loot We Shoot”, 2020, Acrylic and charcoal on unstretched, canvas, 40 x 58 inches in “Deadlocked and Loaded”.

Salma lives in Berkeley, CA and we are both members in the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art, an organization founded in 1972 that supports women artists. I’ve known Salma for a number of years and she is a kind and gentle soul. Her usual work, based on Islamic calligraphy and other figurative work, is lyrical, beautiful, peaceful…it exudes a deep sense of beauty and peace. This work “You Look We Shoot” is a dramatic departure, not in the sense of style but in it’s energy. This work embodies the anger, sadness and frustration that Salma experienced this past summer in response to ex-president Trump’s comments about African-American protestors after the murder of George Floyd. Standing in front of this work is potent, the energy and scribbled lines are a palatable thing. The fury and frustration at the wanton display of inhumanity comes across loud and clear. It is a call to action against the insensitivity to those that want to silence marginalized voices. 

Arastu says of this work, “George Floyd was killed during an arrest after a store clerk alleged he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Donald Trump had tweeted in response to the African American protests against police brutality, “You Loot, We Shoot.” It was etched in my mind and I couldn’t sleep because the questions like “The chaos we are facing today? The source we look forward to help is shooting fire from above…where do we go?” kept echoing in my mind. Next day this painting happened as I had to release my anger and sorrow…”

Originally from India, Arastu is now based in Berkeley, California. She is a visual artist, sculptor and poet, lyrical, spiritual, figurative, and calligraphic—her work speaks of human universality. Her works are informed by folk art, Indian, miniatures and Arabic Calligraphy due to her travels and experiences in different cultures around the world. As a visual artist, she has had almost 40 solo shows nationally and internationally, and has won several prestigious awards including the East Bay Community’s Fund for Artists in 2012, 2014 and 2020, and the City of Berkeley’s Individual Artist Grant Award in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Arastu has had public art pieces on display in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and San Diego, California and has also written and published five books.

See more at salmaarastu.com and @salmaarastu