Sali Swalla

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

SALI SWALLA

SALI SWALLA

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 SWALLA

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 use a variety of tools – brayers, squeegees, palette knives, ceramic tools, stencils and razor blades to lay down these layers over many days, allowing each layer to fully dry. Eventually these layers are covered over and then scraped and carved back into to reveal the piece’s final form and true nature. Like a mystery revealed, my work becomes a diary of my experiences in the world as well as a dream of how I’d like the world to be.

- Sali Swalla

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

But Not Forgotten, 2021 Oil and Mixed Media on Cradled Wood 30 x 40

Making Wishes 1, 2021 Oil and Mixed Media on Cradled Wood, Framed 11 x 11

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

Making Wishes 2, 2021 Oil and Mixed Media on Cradled Wood, Framed 11 x 11

Love Letters, 2021 Oil and Mixed Media on Cradled Wood, Framed 32.5 x 26.5 SOLD

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

An Endless Love, 2021 Oil Mixed Media on Cradled Wood 12 x 8

Fairy Tales, 2021 Oil Mixed Media on Cradled Wood 12 x 12

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART

A Silent Love, 2021 Mixed Media on Panel 12 x 8 SOLD

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