POWER OF SPIRIT
by Robert Hori
1996

Power of Spirit oil on canvas

The drawings and paintings presented in this solo-exhibition of Tadashi Hayakawa's works represent nearly five years of artistic activity. Included are four interrelated series delving into themes of creation, evolution, destruction, and regeneration-themes of cosmic magnitude and universal relevance. The works represent a distillation of experience and mark the technical and spiritual maturation of an artist.

While Hayakawa's series of drawings are ostensibly about creation, they also give insight into the interior workings of the creative process. In each of these four series, he treats a specific theme. With each subsequent work in the series, the artist further develops the theme, and resolves specific artistic problems which had emerged in the previous works. In this way, the connection between the themes the artist explores and the manner in which he explores them forms an uncally and ultimately brilliant parallel. Hayakawa's gradual loosening in style and an unleashing of energy reflects in his overriding theme of the power of the universe. Thus, creation as a theme and creation as a process are illuminated by the presence of the other.
We are pleased that Tadashi Hayakawa has chosen the Japanese Cultural and Community Center to showcase his works. The founders of the JACCC had a dual purpose in mind when they created this cultural center. One was to introduce to Southern California audiences the finest in the visual and performina arts from Japan. The second was to foster the talents of artists from within our own community, so that the cultural legacy of the Japanese Americans would remain vital and strong. Tadashi Hayakawa is one of the artists who is helping the JACCC fulfill its mission through his work and energy.

Robert Hori
Director, Doizaki Gallery
Japanese-American Cultural and Community Center