Suddenly, you notice how beautiful it is and all your problems disappear because it’s a switch that allows you to focus on just this one thing…”
Kazu Hiro is selective about the subjects he chooses to depict in his works and looks for subjects with which he has an emotional connection. “I realized that everyone I wanted to photograph had a traumatic childhood or life, but I pushed past that and created something amazing,” he said. He obsessively researched the biographies of his subjects and pored over every available photo, article and documentary. The final piece is not based on a single moment, but on the overall impression Hiro gets from his subject’s story. He strives to capture the moment before a face contorts into joy, sadness, or anger to hint at the subject’s complex inner life. His portraits explore the power and fragility of great leaders and great artists coexisting.
While investigating the suffering of his subjects, Hong attempted to relieve some of his own anxieties. His art has become his personal therapy. “I had a difficult childhood and was always filled with pain in my heart and mind and always trying to figure out what was going on and how to heal it. My subjects also had these issues,” he muses. “When I create portraits, I heal myself and I try to heal the person I’m creating.”
He said that when viewers are mesmerized by one of his works, their anxieties seem to disappear. If the fanfare at the Los Angeles art show is any indication, multiple portraits displayed together can make quite an impression. Speaking by phone from his Burbank studio while working on his next piece, Tsuji said his dream is to have a room-full exhibition. “You know, when you see something beautiful, your mind changes,” Hiro reasoned. “Suddenly you see how beautiful it is and all your problems disappear because it’s a switch that allows you to focus on one thing… That’s part of my goal, to change people’s consciousness. In that sense, I think my work is healing everyone.”*
Kazu Hiro regularly exhibits his work at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California.
This article originally appeared in High Fructose Issue 35, which is now sold out. Subscribe here and get our latest issue!
