In today’s Artist Inspo we will talk about Yayoi Kusama, one of our favorite contemporary artists! Her art installations make for some of the most magical and captivating experiences and her other multi-media visual art is otherworldly. 

Yayoi Kusama is a contemporary Japanese artist whose work encompasses a wide range of mediums namely; sculpture, painting, film and installation. Kusama is especially well-recognized for her creative use of dots as the basis of all her artwork, and there is a story behind that. 

How did Kusama start? 

Born in Matsumoto City in Japan, Kusama showed early signs of creative talent, specifically in visual arts. She studied painting in Kyoto and in 1958 moved to New York City, aiming to become a part of the contemporary art movement in the city. Kusama curated many exhibitions, where she showed to be a unique character in the midst of other talented contemporary artists like Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell and Claes Oldenburg. Her artwork soon became distinguished within the artistic circles, and her installations of “Infinity Rooms” very popular with the crowds, making her a significant artist in the Pop-art and Minimalist movements and marking her as one of the first artists to engage in performance art.

Performances and Happenings

Kusama’s performances often took the shape of “Happenings”, which were unplanned, impromptu events that required audience participation. Many of the Happenings in the 1960s were meant to protest the Vietnam War, and involved naked participants (including the artist), during which Kusama would paint colorful dots on the performers. 

One of the most memorable performances of Yayoi Kusama, was the unauthorized 1969 Happening, Grand Orgy to Awaken the Dead at MoMA. Naked performers were to embrace each other and engage with the statues around them, who were figures made by deceased artists. By staging this performance, Kusama communicated the point of “dead” art in need of more living artists’ animation.

Narcissus Garden was another memorable performance, installed for the 1966 Venice Biennale and included a “kinetic carpet” of mirrored spheres placed outdoors. During the performance, Kusama wore a golden kimono and sold each sphere to the public. Narcissus Garden served as a critique to the mechanization of the art market, as well as promotional opportunity for the artist. 

Having made such an impact in the art world, Kusama returned to Japan in the 1970s to take care of her mental health and only made a comeback in 1993, when she represented her country in the Venice Biennale. 

Why Dots? 

Yayoi Kusama talks about her reason behind dots as her main design element, stemming from a semi-traumatic experience when she was a little girl. During a bizarre moment of hallucination, Kusama found herself in a field of flowers with these flowers coming to life and in an Alice-in-Wonderland-like moment began speaking to her. The blossoms appeared in the shape of dots, and laid out into the horizon. While the dots extended in front of her, she felt herself merge with the hallucination into what she calls “self-obliterating” into the field of dots. Keeping this memory in mind, Kusama continues to “self-obliterate” and merge into the infinity of dots in all of her artwork and installations. 

‘Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots, we become part of the unity of our environment’.

Infinity Rooms 

Kusama’s most impressive and creative installations remain her “Infinity Rooms”. These installations are always unique in character, often incorporating mirrors, circular objects, dots and a multitude of lights to replicate the idea of an infinite space. Very often, these installations are created by placing hundreds of flashing colorful LED lights into dark mirrored rooms, and fabricate a conceptual environment of a galaxy-like infinity. The inspiration continues to stem from Kusama’s childhood experience and moment of hallucination, something that she is always seeking to mimic into her artwork. 

Where to Find Her Artwork

Some of her most well-established exhibitions include “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” at the Hirshhorn Museum, and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., “Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of Rainbow” at the National Gallery Singapore, and the exhibitions “Yayoi Kusama: Festival of Life” and “Yayoi Kusama Infinity Nets” at David Zwirner in New York. Some of Kusama’s artwork can now be observed at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, as well as her own museum in Tokyo which was first inaugurated in 2017. 

 At Design Land we see the artwork of Yayoi Kusama as a major source of inspiration to make our designs as dynamic and experiential! We especially love the art installations that offer a phenomenal experience. We recommend that if you travel to any of the mentioned locations do not miss out on a visit to these astonishing Infinity Rooms! They make for great pictures and enchanting memories!

XOXO Lori / Design Land NYC