MIE IWATSUKI

INTERVIEW WITH A MUSE

BY ADAM KLUGER PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROBERT MAXWELL

Model/Muse/writer/world traveler. All seem apt descriptions - how would you describe yourself and your many passions including art and literature.

My interests are diverse, but I love to study everything the world has to offer. I have been an art curator and have worked in an auction house and a gallery. I’ve had some amazing opportunities to have worked with many influential artists in the art world, and I am privileged to have been asked to sit for some important masters. I also studied Art History, Chinese, French, and Painting in College. I feel this experience opened up the chance for me to work closely with many important artists. Many such artists, who are well-known abroad but emerging in the West, often could not speak English very well. I helped them to communicate better with art critics. I think certain artists resonate with me more, when I understand their work, and also speak their language and understand them and their cultural backgrounds. I like artists not only as just artists but also as human beings. I often end up getting to know their personalities and become friends with them very quickly. Since I had some amazing sitting opportunities with some masters, I’d like to share my story behind the artist’s creation with others. I believe the subject model’s perspective can add another dimension to the appreciation of the work. I only collaborate with artists I respect and believe in, so my idea of writing an art book, “Model’s Voice” is a love letter to all the artists, I hope our collaboration/ piece of art will be remembered and talked about for many centuries to come even after we are all gone. This romantic idea perhaps came from when I visited museums in Europe in my youth, when I encountered such Masters paintings as Ingres, Sargent, Vermeer, and Rembrandt. I thought I wanted to hear the voice from the subject model, asking about the experience of sitting for such masters, and I wanted to know the inside story behind the artist’s personalities. People call me a Muse for the artists, but I think there is something more important a model can offer than to just sit pretty. I believe artists and models together can leave something meaningful in art history.

It seemed that photographer Robert Frank had a profound impact on your life as a mentor/ friend and artist

Yes, he has been my mentor, and one of my best friends in life. I met him in Spring 2010, I feel he was part of my life like family. He died last year, and it brought me tremendous grief and I miss him so much, but I believe that he is always watching over me. I learned a lot and also had many blessings from the artist. He photographed me the first day he met me, then he complimented how I photograph so well and suggested that I come back to his studio the following week to take some more photographs. He photographed my portrait in a manner he has never done before, as he is a street photographer and not a portrait photographer, but I can still feel that in this portrait, I am a subject in motion. If Walker Evans’ work was “life in still lives”, his photographs are “life in motion.” and there is a “soul” in every single photograph of his, it’s really amazing to see his actual print from “The Americans” in my hand, I felt that just one photograph of his contained 100 other photographs in them. He usually carried a 35mm Leica in both the studio and outside when we walked around the city, as he snapped many photographs of me and his wife June from daily life. Some of those ended up in his publications and exhibitions from time to time. It was amazing to be around him really. I had a chance to talk with him not only about his photographs but also his films and about his collaborators as I studied all his films closely. He inspired me and I will never forget the encouragement I got from him. He taught me “if you have feelings and a brain, you will be a good photographer.” I think I now apply that for what I do, as an artist model and a writer/ artist. He was influential to many and has inspired me. He will live profoundly in my heart forever.

Painter Alex Katz also saw you as a muse

Alex Katz’s main muse is his wife Ada, but I was one of the privileged models he has used repeatedly. He said he uses models he encounters in real life, that way he can feel more connected to the subject. When I met him I was working in a gallery, where we held his artist talk. I was so very excited that day as he was my idol in my school days studying painting in college. It was really a true story that

loved and admired his paintings the most among all the masters in the whole of art history, and I often debated that with my roommate/colleague at Christie’s Auction house, Ramsey who admired Cezanne the most. So when he asked me to sit for him, I thought it was a dream come true. Since then, I have sat for the artist for about 10 paintings and 4 drawings. Since I had such admiration for his work and knew a lot about his work, I think he felt a closer connection to me. I attended his exhibition opening at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris with the artist where they featured his masterpiece, “Homage to Utamaro” the painting featured 5 models including myself and Christie Turlington as the centerpiece. The painting became his museum retrospective catalog cover. It was a really amazing experience to see those portraits end up in museums. I believe a model’s understanding of the artist’s work is something that connects closely in the gaze between the model and the artist which leads to more collaborations, and eventually, the creation of the masterpieces. It is a really rewarding experience to have watched him paint and witness the way he creates. His brushstrokes are second to none, if you are in front of his painting, you are “in” the painting and “in” the moment. Words cannot describe how amazing his paintings are in person.

Jack Kerouac and the Beats also seem to have made an impact on you. What was it about the beats that still captures the imagination

The reason why I became interested in the Beats and Kerouac is because I got to know and have become very close friends to some of the actual figures and their collaborators, Robert Frank and David Amram. Robert Frank is known as one of the most influential, great photographers of all time, but his film work is lesser-known. I actually think his films are even more important than his photographs. His best-known film is his first film, “Pull My Daisy.” which he made with Alfred Leslie. I’ve watched the film many, many times. Kerouac reads the narratives in a very spontaneous manner. Allen Ginsberg, Alice Neel, Gregory Corso are acting in the film, Kerouac also writes in “The Americans.” He was a great collaborator to Robert Frank. Kerouac was a genius at literature and was also influenced by Robert Frank. I also got to know Kerouac’s musical collaborator David Amram, who composed the song for the film, Pull My Daisy. I just love the song and the idea of the 50’s Beat Generation where artists of all walks come together as friends to create something new spontaneously. I guess essentially I like the idea of being around all sorts of talents and ideas of collaboration, just like what I do with the artists now as I sit for their creations and write for them. I think back then they had such a community, today all genres of artists Any upcoming projects that you are excited about?

I am currently working on my memoir. I have posed for approximately 60 artists already in my career, and some of the artists I worked with repeatedly. I want to eventually find a publisher to publish a book of the “Model’s Voice” the story between the model and artist and the collaboration and also keep posing for more artists to keep writing. Actually Robert Frank suggested that I keep posing more for my memoir. My book is mainly focused on the works and back-story with Robert Frank and Alex Katz, but also would like to feature younger, mid-career cutting-edge artists also to make it diverse and interesting. Everybody wants to know more behind the scene stories about the artwork, and that I believe will make the artwork remain in people’s minds longer. I hope from a model’s observation and perspective, the romantic voice will add another perspective to the viewer, I also see this as a tribute to the artists I love and respect. I really wish and believe their soul and spirit will live forever with their creation, so I hope their works of art and our collaboration will be talked about in the museum and be remembered forever in art history.

By Carolyn Melillo