Kokeshi( yellow )

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 fourth grade of elementary school. I went to stay at my aunt’s house in Nagoya during the summer vacation one day. My aunt gave me a plastic doll in the shape of a KOKESHI. There was konpeito in it. I became my treasure. KESHl’s works packed my precious memories into each KOKESHI.”