Enter the immersive world of Yayoi Kusama's infinity art

'Phalli's Field' - Frustrated at her husband’s infidelity, Kusama’s mother would force her to spy on her father in the act, and she’s since found a lifelong aversion to sex. Her healing only started in the '60s, when she developed phallic artworks like this as a way to deal with her feelings of disgust toward sex.

7 / 36 Fotos

Hallucinations -

Kusama credits much of her motif inspiration (polka-dots, squash, bright colors) to early hallucinations, where pumpkins and flowers would speak to her, shapes would appear in the sky, and she would draw them.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

8 / 36 Fotos

'Chandelier of Grief' - Inspired by the work of Georgia O'Keeffe, Kusama wrote to the famed artist for advice, and while O'Keeffe didn’t sugarcoat the life of the artist, she encouraged her to come to America. Kusama sewed dollar bills into her kimono, and off she went.

9 / 36 Fotos

A male-dominated art world - Kusama was hit hard by the reality of the American art world, and though she had fans of notable status, she still had to watch her male peers gain recognition for her ideas.

10 / 36 Fotos

'Love Forever' -

In 1965, Kusama created the world’s first mirrored-room environment, a precursor to what would become her most famous work, and appropriate for the time as people were getting ready to explore the moon.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

11 / 36 Fotos

'Love Forever' - The shapes refer to the various liberation movements of the '60s, and to this day they stand as a reminder that Kusama was just as prevalent back then as Andy Warhol, though her story was nearly written out of the time.

12 / 36 Fotos

'Love Forever' - A male artist, Lucas Samaras, reportedly copied the infinity mirror idea a few months later, and Kusama was so upset that she threw herself from a window.

13 / 36 Fotos

'Narcissus Garden' - With the help of friends, she pulled herself back together and invited herself to the 1966 Venice Biennale, where she first showed her piece 'Narcissus Garden.'

14 / 36 Fotos

'Narcissus Garden' - She sold off some of the 1,500 mirrored balls that were part of the installation as a criticism of the commercialism within the art industry.

15 / 36 Fotos

'Narcissus Garden' - That bold move marked the next phase of taking her art into public spheres.

16 / 36 Fotos

'Narcissus Garden' - She began taking her artistic happenings to Central Park and other public spaces, and though her art was intended to promote peace and criticize the art industry, she was heavily criticized for her inclusion of nudity.

17 / 36 Fotos

'The Passing Winter' - After being labeled a scandalous attention-seeker, Kusama went back to Japan (where she was not warmly received), fell deep into depression, and attempted suicide again.

18 / 36 Fotos

Her desire to create outweighed her desire to die - Kusama found her way out of the dark and miraculously also found a hospital where doctors were interested in art therapy.

19 / 36 Fotos

She was forgotten - She’s voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital for over 40 years, but over time she began to re-establish herself in the outside world again.

20 / 36 Fotos

'All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins' - Kusama became the first solo artist to represent Japan at the 1993 Venice Biennale, and she, for the first time, was both welcomed and celebrated by her country.

21 / 36 Fotos

'Dots Obsession' - It was only in more recent years, however, in which Kusama’s fame spread internationally. Perhaps on the surface level it was due to social media, but on a deeper level her success stems from the way her art unfailingly tethered her to life.

22 / 36 Fotos

'Dots Obsession' -

After having gone through a lifetime of pain and struggle, Kusama's art remains playful and childlike, with inspiration from her childhood hallucinations.

23 / 36 Fotos

'Kusamatrix' - She consistently integrates visitors into the fantastical realm of an imagination that is much larger than life.

24 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' - 'The Obliteration Room' is a particularly interesting installation, which begins as an all-white replica of a traditional living room.

25 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' - The white walls, ceiling, furniture and objects have one purpose: to serve as a canvas for obliteration.

26 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' - Visitors are given brightly colored stickers in various sizes to apply wherever they please.

27 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' - The process continues, and the art takes shape over time.

28 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' - Everyone has a chance to participate in this slow-blooming chaos.

29 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' -

The explosion of color banishes any memory of the stark white room.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

30 / 36 Fotos

'The Obliteration Room' -

The finished product is a completely different experience.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

31 / 36 Fotos

'I Who Have Arrived in Heaven' exhibition - This popular solo exhibition in David Zwirner Gallery in New York features 27 large-scale paintings, a video installation, and two mirrored infinity rooms. She received wide praise for melding the worlds of physical and mental space.

32 / 36 Fotos

'All The Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins' - Kusama's love for pumpkins reportedly began when she came across one with her grandfather and it started speaking to her. She went home and painted it, subsequently winning her first prize for it, aged 11. Eighty years later, her pumpkin sculptures sell for US$500,000.

33 / 36 Fotos

Mirrors and dots, dots and mirrors -

Her fascination with specific motifs could easily be overdone, and yet Kusama consistently finds ways to refresh her sense of expression.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

34 / 36 Fotos

Louis Vuitton collaboration - "Bold, playful and not for the faint-hearted," is how Vogue described the 2012 collaboration between Kusama and the high-fashion brand. Every item of the line is covered in her signature bold spots, and people went crazy for it.

35 / 36 Fotos

Immersive experiences -

Perhaps the most intriguing part of all of Kusama's work, from painting to sculpture, is how it draws you into a reality completely different from your own, cast through the unique gaze of someone with an experience of life that depends upon art.

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

36 / 36 Fotos

Enter the immersive world of Yayoi Kusama's infinity art

To infinity mirrors and beyond

14/01/20 | StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Art

As Yayoi Kusama enters her 90th year, she has become one of the most important living artists in Japan. Though her work involves painting, sculpture, film, and performance, she’s gained massive international fame through her immersive Infinity Mirror Room installations, quickly becoming the biggest-selling female artist in the world despite nearly being written out of history some years ago.

Check out this gallery to see how—using polka dots, pumpkins, lights, and mirrors—this unlikely star is smashing attendance records at museums all over the world.