Born in a rural area near Matsumoto, Japan in 1929, Yayoi Kusama suffered from hallucinations as a child; every day was a never-ending struggle with misery and fear. Through constant painting, Kusama was able to find a release for the unease that plagued her; art provided a means of coping with her mental illness, and gave her a reason to go on living. In 1957, Kusama traveled to New York (which at that time was home to the most exciting, but also the most competitive, art scene in the world), where she became a leading member of the avant garde. In 1973, Kusama suddenly abandoned the bright lights of New York to return to Japan, where she voluntarily had herself admitted to a Tokyo mental hospital so that she could concentrate on her artistic creation. “Bird,” which was painted in 1989, is a mature work from the period after Kusama returned to Japan.


In the forms of paintings, sculptures and action art, Kusama peers into surreal "psychology" and expresses the universe of her mind. Her highly contrastive color schemes returns traces of visual art, music and fashion during the psychedelic period. Her significance is perhaps attributable to her "icon" status, and her explicit yet soulful manifestation. Plagued from a young age by visual and aural hallucinations, Kusama faces her mental illness candidly in “Bird.” The flamboyant, playful colors of the piece juxtapose sharply with the geometric restructured feeling which recall the Infinity Nets of Kusama’s early series as well as creating a mosaic effect. “Bird” provides the viewer with a glimpse into the fractured yet ultimately connected visualizations of Yayoi Kusama as the artist reconciles her mental obstacles through her creation of art. “Artists,” states Yayoi Kusama, “do not usually express their own psychological complexes directly. But I use my complexes and fears as subjects.”