SOCIETY 357 / 2011

Universal Artist Hikaru Hirata-Miyakawa
Without Boundaries
In his paintings Hikaru explores the hidden treasures of the dark. A Mannerist in the arts
meets a realist in life. SOCIETY asked him about his true master Leonardo da Vinci and his
dream art project of painting the counterpart to Michelangelo's "Creation" fresco.
There is no singular definition of the extraordinary
personality of Hikaru Hirata-Miyakawa.
The individual painter
is born in Japan, but describes himself as a
citizen of the archetypal world without
boundaries. That is what his art is like, not
only as a painter, but also as a musician,
writer and actor.
How would you describe your art?
As an artist, I am inspired by the original
Mannerist movement. To me, this is
the revival of Hellenism. Hellenistic culture
and the arts reflected the anxiety of
losing the brilliant King Alexander the
Great. It was the first time in ancient
Greek arts that showing the expression of
emotion like fear and anger, the old age, female
nudity and ugliness was allowed.
Mannerism also reflects the uncertainty of
the future of the Catholic Rome and the
rise of the Protestantism in the North
through the Reformation.
Which goals do you want to achieve
with your paintings?
I like to explore the hidden treasures of
the dark, as an unconscious archetypal aspect
of the universal collective psyche. Just
as Carl Jung describes, the unacknowledged
part of the unconscious psyche becomes
more and more primitive and destructive.
With my art I want to show
Angelos
something beyond physical existence. My
works are visionary, fantastic, surrealistic
and include themes of mythology. I also actively
use images from the past as 'maniera'
and inspiration for my works.
In this way I combine already existing
images from the past and impose them to
each other.
I want to express who I am, and hopefully
during that process connect to others
who can share that experience. My art is
mostly self-taught, but heavily influenced
by Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dalí and
western literature and philosophy.
What led you to become an artist?
When I was just a baby, my mother
gave me a sketchbook and a pencil while
she was shopping and I was left to draw. I
grew up listening to numerous fairly tales
especially from Japan and Europe and listened
to all kinds of songs as lullaby. But
my first formal training began when I was
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