Hollin Hills Artist and Activist HIRO Passes Away at 97
Some sad news: the remarkable artist and political activist HIRO, who lived on Marthas Road for the past three decades, passed away on Saturday, May 9, at the age of 97.
HIRO (who went by just one name, in all caps) was a much-loved figure in Hollin Hills — and an important figure in Japanese-American postwar art, producing a huge body of work that explored the themes of social justice, human rights, feminism and understanding between East and West.
Born in 1929 into a prominent Japanese family, HIRO’s life took a fundamental turn in the early years of World War Two, when she was imprisoned as a child in an American internment camp for Japanese-Americans. The experience radicalized her, and after earning a Masters degree in international relations from the University of Illinois, she decided to become an artist and public speaker — producing searing works that focused on injustice, including her “Kimono and Barbed Wire” series, which gained international renown.
One of the “Kimono and Barbed Wire” works
“There was a political element in my thinking from the very beginning,” she once said, and she went on to a wide-ranging career that would take her all over the world. After moving to Washington, DC in 1981, she exhibited her work and gave lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Portrait Gallery, the American History Museum and many other institutions, and worked on many cross-cultural arts programs.
HIRO moved to Hollin Hills in 1996 and lived here for the next thirty years, working in her high-ceilinged, light-filled studio and filling every square inch of her home with art. Physically petite but with a huge heart, she gave the impression of being much younger than she was, and could be found walking on Marthas Road well into her 90s. (She was astonishingly self-reliant, too; in her 80s, remembers one friend, HIRO was still climbing onto her roof to clean her own gutters.) And as she declined in recent years, she was well looked after by her neighbors — particularly Mae Pouget — who ensured that HIRO could continue living in her own home, as she wished.
“She had a tremendous amount of vitality, and a sense of purpose,” remembers her friend and neighbor Kate Macklin. “I know a number of people found her opinionated — and she was! — but she was very passionate about her art. And she opened up worlds to me.”
“The last few times that HIRO was out on Marthas Circle she still had a big smile and a pleasant greeting,” remembers Jeff Jenkins, a longtime friend. “She was a very powerful creative force and was blessed with a long and productive life. Such an important character in our Hollin Hills community!”
Aided by her friend Mae Pouget, HIRO’s last months were spent preparing material for a book about her life and ideas, which will be published later this year, in both electronic and printed form. A memorial for HIRO will be held later this Spring.
For more on HIRO’s fascinating life, and to see some examples of her art, there’s a profile of her from 2020 in the Hollin Hills Journal. And for more detail, please visit HIRO’s own website here.