YAYOI KUSAMA IT'S ALL ABOUT DOTS! WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY CHEUNG SHING YUEN
Abstract It’s All About Dots – The Story of Yayoi Kusama provides an introduction of a female Japanese artist who is called ‘the princess of polka dots'. Yayoi Kusama was born on 22 March 1929. She is a contemporary artist who is famous for including the element of dots in her works, consisting primarily sculpture, installation and painting. She is also active in performance art and film and writing fiction and poetry. This book introduces her childhood hallucination which greatly influenced her art creations, her early art career when she moved to New York, how she used different medias to make art, her most influential works and that art movements related to her, etc. This book contains simple language which is understandable by children. Also, there is a small topic on every two pages, together with colorful illustrations, it is definitely a good read for children.
YAYOI KUSAMA IT'S ALL ABOUT DOTS! WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY CHEUNG SHING YUEN
These Influencial Polka Dots
When we look at the works of Yayoi Kusama, we can easily find one thing in common – they are all filled with polka dots patterns! In the exhibition – “My Eternal Soul” in The Naitional Art Centre, Tokyo, 500 hundred pieces of Kusama’s colorful paintings were shown. Each of the painting has playful color and interesting shapes, and most importantly, polka dots.
Being known as the “the princess of polka dots’’, Yayoi Kusama has a special status in the modern art world. Every time when she held exhibition, there must be a large number of visitors. So, what makes these polka dots so special?
A Flawed Childhood
Kusama was born on March 22, 1929. She had a quite unhappy childhood. She was born in a wealthy family living in rural area of Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan. Her mother always abuse her and even sent her to spy on her father. The relationship between her parents is also in distrust. Under the traditional Japanese value, Kusama’s mother discourage her from developing her interest in art. She arranged Kusama to get marry and have children at a young age just like most of the other Japanese girls. However, these never stop Kusama’s determination in pursuing her dream of becoming an artist.
Hallucination Happens
Hallucination happened to her in the age of 10. One day after she was looking at a table with red flower patterns, the same patterns appear on everything she saw including her wall, windows and room and was like they were talking to her. She feels that she was going to be devoured by this boundless universe of dots. Since then, she began to include these polka dots in her paintings, feeling that she is making herself part of the universe.
Heading to New York
Wanting to expose herself to western art, she left Japan and then moved to the United States in 1957. She was attracted by the diversity of art in New York city so she settled there and start her art career. Starting a new life in such a different country far away from Japan is such a hard decision for her. She faced a lot of difficulties.
American Art World in the 60s
Art in metropolitan cities in United States such as Seattle and New York were all male-dominated in the 1950s. Female artists at that time rely on male artists to get recognized. Kusama felt really sad to see other male artists being recognized taking advantage of her ideas.
However, one series of work helped Kusama to gain reputation and made her became an important part of New York’s contemporary art.
Her First Series of Polka Dots Work
In 1959, a series of white canvases paintings painted on tight-knit patterns of dots called “Infinity Nets� were created. Just like a large net covered with polka dots. They also became the subject of her first solo exhibition in New York.
Accumulation Series(1962)
They are a series of furniture covered with penis shaped stuffed toys, with polka dots printed on them. People make relations of her work with consumerism and mass production because her works include ordinary furniture and repetitive pattern.
Infinity Mirror Room(1965)
This work is created in 1965. Kusama put a large carpet and many penis like stuffed toys in a large mirror room. When people walk in, they can feel Kusama’s imagination world of fantasy.
Self Oliberation(1967)
In this video, Kusama filled everything and the surrounded environment with polka dots, including people and animals. She applied a metaphor of giving up our original identity, repealing our uniqueness and everything becoming one with the universe.
Pumpkins
Except polka dots, the second distinctive figure of Kusama would be pumpkins. Pumpkins first appear in Kusama’s work in 1946, she was still living in Japan at that time. She had spent a lot of time facing a single pumpkin and painted it repeatedly for many times, until she lost in its bump shape. She thought that when she was painting pumpkins, she would forget other things and focus her mind on the interesting shape and form. She loved pumpkins as an imaginative world similar to polka dots that gives her a warm-feeling and would make her concentrate. Pumpkins with dots have also become Kusama's signature creations in her later art career.
Polka Dots Influence Other Artists
Kusama’s paintings contributed to several art movements including Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. She became a distinctive figure of modern art in America. Famous artists including Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol are inspired and influenced by her works.
Healing Through Creation
In 1977, Kusama lived in a mental hospital in Tokyo of her own accord as her childhood hallucinations continue to appear. However, she has never stopped creating art. “If it is not for art, I should have already committed suicide long time ago.� She said. She sees making art a way of self-healing.
The Pumpkin on The Island
Yayoi Kusama’s whole life is devoted to art. She has left a large amount of great pieces of works. In 2010, Kusama’s large pumpkin sculpture was exhibited on Naoshima. Standing in front of the sea, her yellow pumpkin painted with polka dots has become the island’s distinctive symbol. Since then, this remote and unknown island is largely popular among art lovers. Her legendary life will also be remembered by all of us.
Yayoi Kusama is an artist born in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan. When you look at her works, you can easily find one thing in common, they are all filled with polka dots patterns! That’s also why she is known as “the princess of polka dots. Yayoi Kusama was born on March 22, 1929. She is an old woman now. Despite of her age, she still keeps making art and hold many exhibitions. When attend public events, she always wears a fashionable dress filled with dots in a bright color.
YAYOI KUSAMA
The story all starts with one thing happens to her in her childhood. Kusama had a quite unhappy childhood. She was born in a wealthy family living in rural area of Matsumoto. Her mother always abuse her and the relationship between her parents is also in distrust. Feeling depressed, hallucination started happening to her when she was 10.
One day after she was looking at a table with red flower patterns, the same patterns appear on everything she saw including her wall, windows and room and was like they were talking to her. She began to include countless dots in her paintings as she felt that she was melting into the universe. Kusama studied nihonga – a Japanese style painting at Kyōto City Specialist School of Arts in 1945-1949. Wanting to expose herself to western art, she left Japan and then moved to the United States in 1957. She was attracted by the diversity of art in New York city so she settled there and start her art career. Starting a new life in such a different country far away from Japan is such a hard decision for her. Luckily, she overcame the difficulties and created her first series of work in New York in 1959. She also held her first solo exhibition for them. They are called “Infinity Nets”. Countless polka dots were painted on canvases, creating a feeling of infinity. Since then, Kusama became more productive and started to create more works through different medias including sculpture, installations and videos. In 1962, she created the Accumulation series. They are a series of furniture covered with penis shaped stuffed toys, with polka dots printed on them. People make relations of her work with consumerism and mass production because her works include ordinary furniture and repetitive pattern. These topics are widely discussed in
For installation work, Infinity Mirror Room would be the most well-known. This work is created in 1965. She put a large carpet and many penis like stuffed toys in a large mirror room. When people walk in, they can feel Kusama’s imagination world of fantasy. E x c e p t p o l k a d o t s , Ku s a m a a l s o l o v e pumpkins. Pumpkins appear in her paintings, drawings, installations and sculpture many times. Pumpkins first appear in Kusama’s work in 1946, she was still living in Japan at that time. She had spent a lot of time facing a single pumpkin and painted it repeatedly for many times. She thought that when she was painting pumpkins, she would forget other things and focus her mind on the interesting shape and form. Pumpkins gives her a warm-feeling. Yayoi Kusama has a large impact to the art world. Her works contributed to several art movements including Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. The American art world is male dominated in the 1950s, Kusama was unwilling to rely on male artist to get recognition so she worked really hard to prove herself. She made a lot of works and held many exhibitions. Soon, her works are recognized by people and influence the art world. Artists like Oldenburg, Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol are inspired by her works. In 2010, Kusama’s pumpkin sculpture was exhibited on Naoshima.
In 1977, Kusama lived in a mental hospital in Tokyo of her own accord as her childhood hallucinations continue to appear. However, she has never stopped creating art. In 2006, she awarded the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for painting and she opened her own museum in Tokyo in 2017. In 2010, Kusama’s pumpkin sculpture was exhibited on Naoshima. Since then, this remote and unknown island is largely popular among art lovers. Until now, polka dots are still largely popular among people in fashion, art and many other aspects. This is a story of how polka dots have changed the world. The story of Yayoi Kusama taught us that, no matter how inferior you are in this world, just believe in yourself. You still have the power of making a little bit difference to the word.
It’s all about dots