Art Talk: Yoyoi Kusama

I am excited to talk about Yayoi Kusama today for my artist highlight.

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Great Art Explained. James Payne, with his wonderful accent and amazing knowledge, talks about art in a very relatable way. I always learn so much!

On March 24, 2022 the episode was on the artist Yayoi Kusama. It was fascinating to learn about her and I really wanted to experience an infinity mirror. I went to DC a month later and was at dinner with my friend and he told me that Kusama was at the Hirshorn Gallery. I was so excited. I went and stood in line for tickets early the next morning. I went through the exhibit twice!

Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Mirrored Room- My Heart is Dancing into the Universe, 2018
Hirshorn Gallery, Washington, DC

If you look closely you can see me taking the picture.

About Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 to a wealthy and very traditional family. She left home in 1958 at the at the age of 29 and move to the United States. She lived in New York City until 1973 when she returned to Japan. It amazes me to think of being a young women traveling to another part of the world where the culture is so different and not knowing the language and in the late 1950s. She became a part of the Avant-garde art scene especially in the pop-art movement, which challenged the traditions of fine art. Her early years in the United States were also during the time of the Vietnam War and her works often protested the war.

Taken at the Hirshorn

Polka Dots

Yayoi Kusama had a life long obsession with polka dots. You can see here three of the pieces in the exhibition have polka dots. You can see that she is working well into her 80s creating art!


Pumpkin, 2016	Phallis Field 1965/2017	My Heart is Dancing into the Universe, 2018

Mental Health

Yayoi Kusama has been very open about her mental health. She said,

"I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art. I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live.

In the Great Art Explained video James shows her painting dot after dot after dot to relieve her suffering mind.

Infinity Mirrors

Yayoi Kusama does mostly sculpture and art installations, the most famous being the infinity mirrors.

After learning about her and the infinity mirrors I really wanted to experience one. While in DC I got to experience two- Phallis Field and My Heart is Dancing into the Universe.

Have you ever experienced an infinity mirror? Experience is a great word for it. You stand in line and get to go in for 60 seconds to experience the art. It is quite amazing. I am so used to looking at art, taking pictures of it, learning about it and the artist. This was quite a cool experience to be in a mirrored box, just me and the art.

My Heart is Dancing into the Universe

This room was set up with round lanterns with polka dots that changed colors throughout the 60 seconds. It was amazing!

While writing this post I learned that the Phoenix, Arizona Art Museum has a permanent Kusama Infinity Mirror. I am going to go soon.

Yayoi Kusama is still alive, 93 years old, and creating art. She is living in a hospital for the mentally ill where she is a permanent resident, by choice. She is a prolific artist and creates in a varied of disciplines

painting
drawing
sculpture
installation art
performance art
film
fiction
fashion
writing

Today I showed you two, sculpture and installation. According to some Yayoi Kusama is the one of the most radical female artists of all time.

Sources:
Yayoi Kusama- Wikapedia
Yayoi Kusama-Great Art Expained