Japanese displeased with the education and she later

Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, was born in March 22, 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan(10). As a child, Kusama was physically abused by her mother. While her father was the type of man who would romance woman and sleep around. Often, her mother would send Kusama to investigate, where she witnessed see her father in the act. This later on in her life made Kusama despise men and hate sex. According to Yayoi Kusama herself she started painting at a very young age.

Around the age of 10, Kusama started to have hallucinations of fields of dots, movement of light, and flowers that could communicate with her(11). This would later carry into her later  art works and distinct style which has self named, “self obliteration”(12). At the age of 19, Kusama went on to pursue a formal art education at the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts where she studied Japanese style painting. Kusama was displeased with the education and she later began to gravitate towards more Western avant garde styles. In her earlier works, Kusama primarily used gouache, watercolor and oils on paper. But later move to covering other surfaces such as canvases, walls, floors, household objects and eventually the human body. After years of living in Tokyo, Japan, Kusama to move to and live in  the United States, more specifically, Seatlle(10) in her late twenties. However, after a year she moved to New York City.

We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
For You For Only $13.90/page!


order now

In the U.S., Kusama quickly gained high praise and status for her work and became a distinguished artist of the avant garde movement. During the 60’s Kusama became very interesting. This was around the time her more well known mirror rooms started to gain popularity(25). The mirror rooms consisted of  room sized installations which included music, light, and mirrors that created an illusion of an infinite  space. With the nature of the 60’s, the Vietnam War was a hot topic with many protests against it; which is no surprise that Kusama herself did not stand for it. In fact, in one of many of her protest, she wrote an open letter to President Nixon claiming that she would have ‘vigorous sex’ with him if he ended the war(16).

In the latter of the 60’s, Yayoi Kusama’s work became more performance based, with her polka dots transferring from the canvas to skin.   Frequently Kusama would fall ill health due to overworking herself. Finally, in 1973, Kusama returned home to Japan. During this time, she wrote poetry, short stories and novels. She would later become an art dealer (29), but only after a few years business ended after she checked herself into the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill, where she still resides today, on her own terms of course. Although she does permanently reside at the hospital, Kusama still continues to produce art in her studio not far from the hospital (30).

Even at the age of 88, Kusama continues to produce works.Throughout the years, Kusama art forms have included visual arts, performances, fashion, writing, and film. She has acquired various awards including Asahi Prize in 2001,, Ango Award in 2014,and the Praemium Imperiale, in which she was the first Japanese women to receive it(65). Kusama’s style can be categorized as Minimalist and Pop Art. Elements which seem to be consistent throughout many of her pieces are various circle sizes, which she uses instead of value to create depth, two dominant colors, various line weights and shapes in her 2d work, and light in her 3d work and installations. Two of Yayoi Kusama’s well known works include Pumpkin and Infinity Mirrored Room: The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. Created in 1994, Pumpkin is an immense outdoor sculpture, currently residing in Japan at the Benesse Art Site.

The structure is bright yellow with black polka dots varying in size. Instead of shading to create depth in her pieces, Kusama utilizes the different sizes of of the polka dots to create an illusion of depth. This structure can be viewed from all sides.

Media used for this piece include acrylic on ceramics. The artist describes this piece as her alter ego, being that it was a marriage of her two obsessions; polka dots and pumpkins.Another one of Kusama’s popular works is Infinity Mirrored Room: The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, which is one of the twenty installments of the Infinity Room series. This series of rooms first began in 1963.

These rooms generally have interactive lights, rooms lined top to bottom with mirrors , and generally are dark. In this room in particular there many small lights around the room which reflect off of the mirrors and give a illusion of a endless space and continuous lights. In these rooms, only one visitor is allowed at a time, providing the individual a peaceful and serene experience.

Author: Roderick Guzman

x

Hi!
I'm Mia!

Don't know how to start your paper? Worry no more! Get professional writing assistance from me.

Check it out