Artists and Poets Respond to the Pandemic (3)

Today, my featured selections from the online exhibition "Artists and Poets Respond to the Pandemic" are artist Kathleen Stark and artist and poet Salma Arastu. The words serving as inspiration for their works are "Endurance," "Grief," "Loss," "Love," "Resilience," and "Strength."

[. . .] You will be tested [. . .] /

But remain steadfast and feel deep gratitude / [. . . .]

~ from "Love and Adore (We Will All Come Out Together)"

Kathleen Stark, "An Artist's Life Is One Ball"

Acrylic on Canvas

24" x 36"

Read Salma's poem.

___________________________

Kathleen Stark, who lives in Virginia, is an award-winning artist who works in a number of different mediums (pastel, ink, acrylic, etc.), often combining two or three in one painting, collage, or assemblage. She uses her experiences abroad as well as her life today as inspiration for her work. Her painting above relates to the loss of her leg because of an infection and the grief she suffered as a result.

Passionate about art, Kathleen is a founding member of The Pastel Society of Virginia and a member of Fairfax Art League. She has studied fine art and art history at The Corcoran School of Art and Design, The University of Hawaii, and Northern Virginia Community College; has taken private art classes in Athens, Greece; and has studied women's art history at the University of Maryland, Frankfurt, Germany.

Salma Arastu is primarily a visual artist, though she also writes poetry. Drawing her inspiration from her Indian heritage and Islamic spirituality, Salma expresses her identity as "a woman, Hindu, Muslim, artist, and mother" who seeks "to create harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, and calligraphy."

A resident of California who has lived in Iran and Kuwait, Salma has exhibited in nearly 40 solo shows nationally and internationally and has written and published five books.

_______________________________

Note: Selections from the exhibition also can be found on the exhibit host's new Instagram site: https://www.instagram.com/st.martsandfaith/

In addition, we are adding poets' recordings of their poems as the readings come in.