Road - Winter Day 路・冬日

Is the golden cloud floating from the moutaintop the smoke from the volcano? The massive figure of the mountain fills up the whole painting, looking as if it is still being pushed up from beneath the earth crust. Its energy, held down by the dark sky and the thick earth crust, is seething underneath, and is seeking to be released. But this work is not simply dark and massive. The landscape, which is distorted like a view through a super-wide-angle lens, is somewhat humorous; and the houses look as if they are holding desperately onto the surface of the earth and trying not to be shaken off. The dancing figures of the trees, depicted in various shapes and colors, appear to be talking to one another. In this work, both the majestic power of nature and the childlike playfulness in expression coexist without being reconciled. If the artist's only goal was in expressing the overwhelming power of nature, this work may not be a total success. But we feel that, instead, his purpose was to present a cozy but mysterious view of the world. The “Road”series, which started with the work exhibited in "The Soga-kai Spring Exhibition" of 1977 and can be considered Hiramatsu's lifework, reveals his animistic view of nature and his warm regard for it.