Ayako Saito

b. 1980

Ayako Saito was born in Tokyo, Japan and studied art in Tamagawa University, Tokyo. She came to Australia in 2002 and completed an undergraduate degree and Honours in sculpture at the Australian National University, Canberra. In 2008 she received a Master of Visual Art.

Her large outdoor sculptures have been exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea since 2008. Her larger works have been exhibited at: Sydney Harbour Sculpture; Hillview Sculpture Biennial, Sutton Forrest, NSW; Artisans in the Garden at the Botanic Gardens, Sydney; Sculpture on the Greens, Wyong, NSW and Sculpture at Sawmillers, Sydney.

Since completing her Master of Visual Art, Ayako has gathered an impressive number of awards including the Clitheroe Foundation Emerging Sculptor Mentorship Program, the Dignam Real Estate Award, the Tetsuya Wakuda Miniature Sculpture Prize, Sell and Parker Steel Sponsorship, the Australian National University School of Art Emerging Artist Support Scheme-John and Elizabeth Baker Acquisition. In 2024 Ayako was awarded the London Sculpture Prize by British Sculptor Isabel H Langtry at Sculpture in the Vinyards, Wollombi earning her the opportunity to exhibit solo in London, United Kingdom. Most recently in 2025 Ayako was also awarded one of the three Helen Lempriere Scholarships from Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi, Sydney.

Ayako completed a major sculpture commission in 2018, Heaven’s Door for St. Paul’s College, Sydney University which was sponsored by Dr. Andrew Bell. Her works are included in private collections in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Tokyo, Singapore, New Zealand and The United States.