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 putdown roots. Having moved so often in her youth, Swalla developed a unique innerlife, fed by the enormous variety of places she has inhabited. 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 mimics this search and serves as a metaphor for personal growth. Swalla’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.
