My non-profit @OnenessProjects brings together- Collaborative works- Unity Quilts, and Unity Mandalas, and connects with women artists from the Global Art Project: Gender Gap II, presenting images of unity, cohesiveness, cooperation, and empathy from the perspective of GAP female artists in a time of existential crisis.
The Oneness Projects preserve and spread a message of divinely guided oneness, interconnection, and unity by supporting artists and creatives who embody this ideology.
Unity Quilts
Quilts have a unique significance in the mental and physical realm as they connect the creators and the experiencers. While sharing the prominent and functional aspect of warmth and comfort, memories weave and intertwine during its making and use. I have invited selected artists/makers to create artwork on 10”/10” paper or fabric, a painting, drawing, a poem, or their own story. Just being themselves, about their beliefs, a reflection on oneness, finding a visual translation. Each quilt has six artworks that are sewn into the burlap (24”/36”) by my collaborators Akiko Suzuki and Sue Fox. These hang like tapestries. I call them unity Quilts as they bring together several artists from different backgrounds and unify as one art piece.
Unity Mandalas
A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Indian and Buddhist religions, representing the universe. Describing both material and non-material realities, the mandala appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, sun, and moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community. All cultures are connected through philosophy, myths, rituals, and deep-rooted beliefs in this circle and are moving towards the center.
Some members of the community were invited to the studio, and they sat together and added marks, words or symbols in circle beginning from the center and created Unity Mandalas.
Global Female Artists
GLOBAL ART PROJECT is a collaborative collective of 80 working artists from 17 countries since 2012. The eclectic membership includes diverse practitioners involved in diverse media and aesthetic orientations that manifest in collaborative art making across cultural, geographic, and linguistic differences. GAP membership consists of dynamic women artists and offers a glimpse into the creative imperatives of a representative grouping.
Oneness Projects brings a new exhibition:
Collaborations and Connections
at Dougherty Station Community Arts Center
17011 Bollinger Canyon Rd San Ramon, CA 94582
March 1st to March 31st, 2024
9am-5pm Monday through Friday
Reception 2nd March 2024 3-5pm
Collaborations and Connections
One cannot think of a better title than Collaborations and Connections for Salma Arastu’s current show. Eclecticism perceptibly surfaces in her works. Issues and dialogues range from the personal to the collective, from identifiably material to abstract, and from political to the ecological. The forms take shape accordingly, with an underlying lyricism.
During one of our conversations on the Unity Mandala, Arastu expressed her desire to give a different dimension to it. I shared my curatorial and research experience of the collective craft tradition of quilt-making from India. Stating that the significance of the tradition is not limited to the outcome of the final product but to creating a space, an arena for every contributor – to share. A word loaded with references to narratives, experiences, and skills. Hence, each piece stands independently as a dedicated space/patch, simultaneously blending into a larger aesthetic compilation. After the discussion, Arastu graciously decided to let me curate the section on Unity Quilts for the current show. Over a period, she received visual contributions from numerous brilliant artists. The panels of quilts, hence, must be viewed from multiple vantage points – of an artist creating a space for association, of the diverse visual language and engagements of the contributors, a new dimension to Arastu’s intent through an age-old practice, and the gravity of the orchestrated final work.
– Vrushali Anil Dhage
Art historian and curator.
