White Dragon

Sei Saito is a Japanese-born artist, married to an American college professor, and after many years creating her works in Flagstaff, Arizona, is now living in Hawaii. She does large-scale acrylic paintings, which reflect vivid colors and patterns shaped by the places she has lived and by her life experiences. Her work draws deeply on her personal outlook, with her life and emotions strongly expressed in each piece. Painted not for an audience, but for herself, it is genuine artwork from the heart.

Sei describes this work with the following words: “Al was scheduled to have surgery for cancer. Around the year 2000, robotic surgery was considered cutting-edge technology in the United States.

To me, the machine looked like a bassoon, with many tubes extending from it and entering Al’s abdomen. The surgeon skillfully maneuvered the bassoon-like machine to remove the cancer. During the long hours I spent waiting in the waiting room, the idea for my work “White Dragon” came to me.”