Takako Hirayama

Noh is Japan's oldest theater form. It is a lyric dance-drama but has few dramatic elements: the principal characters wear masks and performs the dance in a very slow movement to the monotonic music. There exist about 250 Noh plays, which are grouped to 5 main subjects: the god, man, woman, madness and demon. The concepts of most plays show buddhism influence. Masks worn by actors are used for various roles in different plays and lack in individuality of expression.Their essence lies in a profoundness in form that is a sublimation on reality. The Noh mask combines with extremely symbolic movement of the actor and the monotonic music to display a unique artistic beauty. The costumes are also the main elements which confrom the profoundness of Noh experience.

Ms. Hirayama is one of very few Noh-painters in Japan. Her pastel paintings beautifully show the essence of Noh and its profoundness of artistic beauty, and, as you see, her art seems to have its own soul even sublimating Noh plays.