PRINTCatalogue Note:
“My art originates from hallucinations only I can see, I translate the hallucinations
and obsessional images that plague me into sculptures and paintings.”
- Yayoi KUSAMA
As the most influential female artist within the Asian contemporary art scene, Yayoi Kusama’s status on the international art stage cannot be ignored. Her works minutely and truthfully bear the weight of her past, and of nightmares she cannot rid. Kusama makes use of painting, sculpture, performance art, and other techniques to represent the universe residing in her mind from a surreal psychological perspective. Her highly saturated contrasting colors has left a mark on the visual arts, music, and fashion. Revealing an unconcealed soul, she is herself an “idol”.
Having shown artistic talent since childhood, she studied nihonga, pastel, and other traditional Japanese painting techniques in her hometown. In 1957, encouraged by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, she moved to New York, where she learnt the value of creative freedom. Kusama’s work is very diverse, including paintings, soft sculptures, performance art, installations, videos. It covers movements, such as pop art, feminism, surrealism, Art Brut, expressionism, and Happening Art. In 1993 she represented Japan at the 45th Venice Biennale. From then on, her pumpkinthemed works became famous, leading to the creation of largescale installations, such as the outdoor sculpture at Fukuoka Art Museum. Inspiration for the “pumpkin” theme originated from the artist’s childhood. During the war, Kusama’s home was filled with pumpkins. She said, “When I was a child I used to play in the plant nursery outside my house. The pumpkins I picked would talk to me. The shape of a pumpkin is way too cute…what attracts me is its bare swollen belly, and the strong sense of mental stability”.
Through continuous production of a great number of artworks, a life of pain is turned into a peaceful beauty. Kusama’s paintings reveal her unique way of thinking and autobiographical connotations. When she picks up the brush, she gets in contact with a mysterious world through fortuitous and unpredictable motives. Her inner strength and subconscious thoughts display a vast universe. An endless passion for painting and a religious reverence towards art have helped her battle mental illness for a long time. Kusama uses art to heal her wounds. Therefore, all her works are an expression of her deepest feelings. Similar to many of her other works, Pumpkin gathers the visual elements of each of her series and presents the hallucinations that trouble the artist. Using big and small black dots, Kusama arranges the shape of her pumpkin, making the bright yellow surface stand out, and creating a contrast that brings about a great visual shock. The yellow lines in the background form an “infinity net”, which highlights the pumpkin’s plump figure and reflects her endlessly growing artistic vitality. Kusama’s painting does not fall into being just a compositional pattern. Instead, she portrays objects as particles, which aggregate and then dissipate into dots and lines. The center of the so-called picture is completely untraceable. This entirely overwhelming practice matches with the style of Jackson Pollock, the master of American abstract expressionism. Emphasizing the material factors involved in the act of painting is also an extreme manifestation of the infinite. This painting is the direct record of a behavior dominated by emotions, and of that freestyle filled with rhythm which characterizes her painting process.
and obsessional images that plague me into sculptures and paintings.”
- Yayoi KUSAMA
As the most influential female artist within the Asian contemporary art scene, Yayoi Kusama’s status on the international art stage cannot be ignored. Her works minutely and truthfully bear the weight of her past, and of nightmares she cannot rid. Kusama makes use of painting, sculpture, performance art, and other techniques to represent the universe residing in her mind from a surreal psychological perspective. Her highly saturated contrasting colors has left a mark on the visual arts, music, and fashion. Revealing an unconcealed soul, she is herself an “idol”.
Having shown artistic talent since childhood, she studied nihonga, pastel, and other traditional Japanese painting techniques in her hometown. In 1957, encouraged by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, she moved to New York, where she learnt the value of creative freedom. Kusama’s work is very diverse, including paintings, soft sculptures, performance art, installations, videos. It covers movements, such as pop art, feminism, surrealism, Art Brut, expressionism, and Happening Art. In 1993 she represented Japan at the 45th Venice Biennale. From then on, her pumpkinthemed works became famous, leading to the creation of largescale installations, such as the outdoor sculpture at Fukuoka Art Museum. Inspiration for the “pumpkin” theme originated from the artist’s childhood. During the war, Kusama’s home was filled with pumpkins. She said, “When I was a child I used to play in the plant nursery outside my house. The pumpkins I picked would talk to me. The shape of a pumpkin is way too cute…what attracts me is its bare swollen belly, and the strong sense of mental stability”.
Through continuous production of a great number of artworks, a life of pain is turned into a peaceful beauty. Kusama’s paintings reveal her unique way of thinking and autobiographical connotations. When she picks up the brush, she gets in contact with a mysterious world through fortuitous and unpredictable motives. Her inner strength and subconscious thoughts display a vast universe. An endless passion for painting and a religious reverence towards art have helped her battle mental illness for a long time. Kusama uses art to heal her wounds. Therefore, all her works are an expression of her deepest feelings. Similar to many of her other works, Pumpkin gathers the visual elements of each of her series and presents the hallucinations that trouble the artist. Using big and small black dots, Kusama arranges the shape of her pumpkin, making the bright yellow surface stand out, and creating a contrast that brings about a great visual shock. The yellow lines in the background form an “infinity net”, which highlights the pumpkin’s plump figure and reflects her endlessly growing artistic vitality. Kusama’s painting does not fall into being just a compositional pattern. Instead, she portrays objects as particles, which aggregate and then dissipate into dots and lines. The center of the so-called picture is completely untraceable. This entirely overwhelming practice matches with the style of Jackson Pollock, the master of American abstract expressionism. Emphasizing the material factors involved in the act of painting is also an extreme manifestation of the infinite. This painting is the direct record of a behavior dominated by emotions, and of that freestyle filled with rhythm which characterizes her painting process.