Chiko

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:

“When I was in the third grade of elementary school. when I raised a bird whose eyes were not even open and became an adult bird. One day, Chiko suddenly died. That is the reality of death that I experienced for the first time.”