Yayoi Kusama's infinity mirror room installation
I’ve just discovered Yayoi Kusama, born in 1929 and still producing important work at the age of 80. Plagued all her life by hallucinations and mental illness, living by choice in a mental hospital… and yet last year, one of her works was sold by Christie’s for over 5 million dollars — a record for a living female artist. And three years ago, she became the first Japanese woman to receive the Praemium Imperiale, one of Japan’s most prestigious prizes for internationally recognized artists. These facts are from the lovely Wikipedia entry about her, but if you want to truly get a feel for this artist, watch this video:
I’m enthralled; to be able to express one’s vision with such single-minded profusion! Passion, carried out so masterfully in spite of the fact that she was fragilely perched at the edge of consensus reality. I found out about her on this interesting art blog..
2 Comments
I’m all about polka dots! Thank you for sharing – enjoyed reading about Kusama’s interesting life and work. Now I will look back on my history to see how I found you! Your blog is such a peaceful read (the chimney fire made me wince – glad it was an easy fix) and your surroundings/environment intrigue me! We live in Skagit County so your paradise is near and dear to me! ~Dona
Hi, Dona –
Happy to have you reading my blog! My impulses for what I want to write about are so varied that I fear sometimes that it lacks a specific subject focus, so it’s nice to hear that I have more than accidental readers. I always love driving through the Skagit farmland when I’m heading over to I-5, but I don’t get off the main highways more than about once a year. The sky is so big and open out there, over the fields, that I keep wanting to put it into a painting.