Spirit and Spine
‘Kitohone’ (Kikotsu)

At a corner of a residential area in the metropolis, there is a place where everyone instantly becomes a happy traveler, surrounded by the exotic glow of the sun and delightful singing—her art museum, which showcases her works which depict people along the Silk Road in lively portraits.
In her thirties, Kazuko Irie traveled throughout Japan, while focusing on stone Buddha statues. The trip extended into a pilgrimage far west, going back to the historical headwaters of the Silk Road. Since her first visit to that area in the fifties, she has traveled the Silk Road from China to Istanbul off and on over the course of 40 years, and once encountered a carpet of legendary blue poppies on the Tibetan Plateau. Her numerous works revisiting the history of East-West exchange illustrate her own adventurous history. During her trip, she carried a heavy sound recorder along with her painting tools. After coming back to Japan, she turned her sketches into magnificent works of art while playing back the singing of the people and sounds of bustling markets, all to bring to life the emotional spirit that she encountered in various locations.
A few years ago, Kazuko Irie fell and suffered a compression fracture. She transferred to another hospital, discouraged by being bedridden and only waiting for the nurses to care for her. With rehab, she again took up her paintbrush, and finally at the age of 93, she held her private exhibition in New York despite her physical impairments. She enjoyed the pleasure of being an artist with the cross-border, empathic communication of her emotional spirit.
Bearing in mind the goal of having an exhibition covering all of her adventures, the petite artist faces the canvas every day.