If you drive along Route 28, the “Catskills’ Corridor,” between Margaretville and Andes, chances are you’ve noticed a big red barn with a metal lizard adorning the side, and gorgeous carved stone sculptures in the nearby fields. That beautiful barn is home to Ken Hiratsuka’s art studio. Drawn to the quiet language of stone—the vibration and sound—and accustomed to working with large masses of solid rock in wide-open spaces, Hiratsuka has found the perfect place to delve into his art. “The earth is stone, but it’s also a living creature with a heartbeat,” he says.
Hiratsuka’s work, spanning 34 years, beginning in his native Japan, and then later in New York City, is to follow the wave in the stones and expose the power that lies just beneath the cracks. Every day he touches stone, and he plans to do so until the day he dies. “Like a life-line, from birth to death, the end of the line is just the beginning,” he says. The Hiratsuka studio barn is often open for area art tours. To learn more, visit: www.kenrock.com.
