Hopeless Romantic

Born in Hawaii to a Japanese mother and a military aviator father, Sali Swalla’s early years were spent living in various US States, as well as Japan and Korea. After attending University in Tokyo, she moved to Los Angeles and finally began to put down roots. Having moved so often in her youth, Sali developed a unique inner life, fed by the enormous variety of places she has lived. Her work is an expression of a sense of longing and loss, tightly related with a search for wholeness and something beyond the tangible world. Process-heavy layering, veiling, and scraping away mimic this search and serves as a metaphor for personal growth. Sali’s work has been shown nationally in juried exhibits and fairs, placed in numerous public and private collections, chosen for placement on television, and repeatedly featured in Saatchi online collections and catalogues. Statement I am a painter of imagined landscapes and gardens. Through them I strive to make tangible the intangible, just beyond our reach, spiritual side of nature. I am drawn to the close up nooks and crannies of a garden, the whimsy of a bouquet and the horizon line where tree and flower meet Sky. They imbue me with a sense of communing with the Divine in a kind of active mediation. I wish for my work to allow others to experience the same and to see more than what is right in front of them. I work in the mediums of oil paint and cold wax in a process driven style. I start with many multip