Suddenly, you notice how beautiful it is and every problem disappears because it’s a kind of switch that makes you focus on this one thing…”
Kazu Hiro is selective about whom he chooses to portray in his work and seeks out subjects with whom he has an emotional connection. “I realized that everyone I wanted to do a portrait of had a tormented childhood or life, but broke through that and made something amazing,” he said. He obsessively studies his subjects’ biographies and pores over every available photo, article, and documentary. The final work isn’t based on a single moment, but instead on a general impression Hiro gets from his subject’s story. He strives to capture a face in the moment before it contorts into joy, sorrow, or rage to hint at his subject’s complex inner life. His portraits explore the strength and vulnerability that coexist within great leaders and great artists.
In investigating his subjects’ pain, Hiro attempts to exorcise some of his own anxieties. His art has become his personal therapy. “I had a difficult childhood and always had pain in my heart and in my mind, and was always trying to figure out what was going on and how to heal it. My subjects, too, had those problems,” he mused. “As I create the portrait, I heal myself and I try to heal the person who I’m making, too.”
He said that when his viewers become entranced by one of his works, their anxieties seem to disappear, as well. If the fanfare at the LA Art Show was any indication, multiple portraits displayed together make a striking impression. Over the phone, while working on his next piece in his Burbank studio, Tsuji said his dream is to have an exhibition with a room full of them. “You know when you see something beautiful, the mind changes,” Hiro theorized. “Suddenly, you notice how beautiful it is and every problem disappears because it’s a kind of switch that makes you focus on this one thing… That’s part of my goal, switching people’s consciousnesses. And in that sense, my work is healing for everybody, I think.”*
Kazu Hiro exhibits his work frequently with Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, CA.
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