Ancient Energy Creates Modern Forms
Kate Hickey
According to Yuriko Hirose, "energy from all substances is naturally converted into light, color and sound. Soon, the energy becomes a story that grows into a message that desires to be sent." This is where Hirose’s art begins.
This energy she speaks of is that of Ki, the circulating life energy that in Chinese philosophy is thought to be inherent in all things. In traditional Chinese medicine, the balance of negative and positive forms in the body is believed to be essential for good health.
Hirose, who is from Japan, is active in the art world in New York, LA and her home country. She has been exhibiting in both Japan and the United States since 1985 and has won awards throughout her career. One of her most recent achievements was a Prize for Excellence from Art Now, the Global Art Annual in 2005.
Even as a painter, Hirose had always thought in terms of sculpture. However, during the 80s, Andy Warhol saw her early three-dimensional work and said it was truer to her character, and that she had a unique sense of recognition for three-dimensions. Since then, her work as been mainly been that of sculpture. Using various mediums such as resin, canvas, steel, clay and Styrofoam, she produces reliefs and three-dimensional sculptures. Hirose’s works attempts to make our spaces more comfortable. Through her works, she is attempting to bring a richness of experience to the masses.
Hirose believes that those things which bring her pain will reappear in her work as something positive. As the ancient ki balances the negative and positive, so, too, does Hirose’s work. The mismatch of color and shape is that of such primitive meanings occurring in modern form.
Her first exhibition in New York was at the Gallery at the Marmara in 2002. Her works attempts to blend the futuristic– incorporating elements of science and machinery–with primitive elements, such as ki-energy. Through this she reflects fundamental aspects of modern humans.
