YP junior reporters reflect on Yayoi Kusama M+ exhibition

Featuring over 200 unique pieces of art, Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition at the M+ museum was truly a breathtaking celebration of the artist. It focused on the core aesthetic facets of her work, echoing a lyrical play on life and death, with avant-garde pieces and reflections on the interweaving of the world around us.

Finding art a therapeutic practice, Kusama channels it to transform her visual and auditory hallucinations into artworks – sparking the origin of her celebrated net and polka dot motifs. Through her introspective style, Kusama channels her struggles with trauma, mental health and obsessive-compulsive neurosis into rich, emotive art pieces, helping to raise awareness and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

Displayed thematically and chronologically, the retrospective illustrates Kusama’s journey to becoming an artistic icon, stretching across seven decades from her earliest works – created when she was a teenager during World War II – to her most recent pieces, including paintings, installations, sculptures and archival materials that highlight the ways in which her art serves as both a reflection and a response to the surrounding world.

My trip to the M+ Yayoi Kusama exhibition was a very insightful experience for me, and a chance to take inspiration from Kusama’s style and technique. There was a wide range of themes present throughout the exhibition – it was stunning that one person has managed to create so many detailed and intricate artworks spanning so many different concepts, from creation to obliteration to feminism.

Kusama is best known for her psychedelic style and characteristic polka dots, as seen in her piece Self Obliteration, which features female mannequins covered head-to-toe in an undulating sea of polka dots. She described these polka dots as a “way to infinity”, a way of obliterating nature and the human form to unite with the environment. Kusama’s work is widely influenced by mental health, as she experienced psychological issues, hallucinations and obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. To her, art was her means of therapy, and is now a way of destigmatising the topic of mental illness.

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My personal favourite was the Infinity Nets series, showcasing enormous paintings with intricately twisting and repeating patterns that seem to stretch into infinity. Kusama completed some of these in uninterrupted sessions lasting 40 to 50 hours, showcasing her pure dedication towards her craft. I admire Kusama’s use of texture and vivid colours as seen in one of her infinity nets, which uses splashes of neon pink and green among a deep blue background to represent the toxicity of oil spills in the ocean.

Visiting the Yayoi Kusama exhibition was a fresh experience that left an indelible mark on my understanding of art and mental health. A renowned Japanese contemporary artist, Kusama’s pieces are known for vibrant colours and polka dots, as well as their courageous exploration of such topics as the purpose of life and toxic post-war societal trends.

Through art, she finds a form of expression for herself to heal and a means of communication with the audience. The use of repetitive patterns has been consistent throughout seven decades of her work, partially reflecting Kusama’s struggle with OCD. Representing the state of accumulation of particles forming the infinity of the unbounded universe, these elements highlight her attempts to obliterate her sense of self by merging with the outer world.

Another highlight of the exhibition is the iconic mirrored room. Filled with silver, polka-dot-patterned spheres and lined with mirrors on the sides, this installation creates an immersive environment that transcends physical boundaries and blurs the lines between reality and illusion. The confined environment creates experiences of losing oneself in the vast surroundings and resonates with Kusama’s episodes of being trapped within her own mind. This exhibition invited me to explore the transformative intersection of creativity, mental health and personal experiences.

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Avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama is well known for her enormous contributions to art over the course of her lengthy career. She is a painter, sculptor and author who gained notice for her distinctive artistic sensibility. Born in 1929 in Japan, she was raised in a traditional setting where women were discouraged from the arts. Despite these difficulties, she pursued her love of art, eventually relocating to New York in the 1950s, where she integrated herself into the avant-garde art scene. Her iconic pieces include the infinite mirror and polka dot room installations which have wowed audiences all around the world.

Kusama has been transparent about her difficulties with mental health and how her work has helped her to manage; using her artistic expression as a way to cope with her grief, worry and terror. It’s possible that she uses repetition and immersion in her installations as a technique to analyse and face her mental health issues. Her work often reflects personal and psychological themes. Additionally, she has used her art to encourage others to use creative expression as a form of healing and to lessen the stigma associated with mental health.

Looking at Kusama’s art was a transformative experience. It transported me into a world of sensory overload and wonder. Her use of bright colours, bold patterns and repetitive shapes created a hypnotising effect, drawing me into her imaginative landscapes.

Her art has the ability to evoke a range of emotions from joy and playfulness to introspection and contemplation. It offers a unique and powerful perspective on the world around us.

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My instant takeaway was that M+ had perfectly timed their Kusama exhibition. After all, what better artist to rejuvenate interest in the arts after a stifling pandemic than the bright “Princess of Polka Dots” herself?

The beauty of Kusama’s work is that it is accessible enough to be enjoyed on a surface level while also depicting universal themes that can be explored if you so wish. As an example, Dots Obsession – Aspiring to Heaven’s Love is a joy for my brother. To him, a carefree 11-year-old, it’s a dazzling room of alien-like orbs that isn’t boring and static like many art pieces are. To me, an art student, it’s an existential piece that is the ideal large-scale installation. Kusama’s work is enjoyable for all, and I imagine M+’s chronological arrangement of her work is inspiring to aspiring artists as well.

The cheery colours of the art make for a positive viewing experience. After trying times, the unapologetic quirkiness of Kusama’s pieces is uplifting, such as the eye-catching Pumpkin exhibit and the vibrant fabric lines that make up Death of Nerves.

Walking out of the exhibition with a smile, I thought that regardless of the artistic intention, Kusama, a long-time advocate for mental health, would probably be pleased by her effect. As an artist who has tried to reduce stigma from mental disorders through her work, the exhibition is a thoughtful journey through her pieces as an artist. No matter how viewers decide to engage with the exhibition, the fearless creativity of Kusama shines through, and the tribute is an enjoyable and accessible one.

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Upon setting foot inside M+, I saw a dramatic display of Yayoi Kusama’s large-scale art piece, Death of Nerves. This artwork hangs at the lightwell of M+ and extends down to B2 level, instantly causing viewers to think of a bundle of nerves freely hanging, or tree roots covered in Kusama’s signature polka dots.

Kusama emerged as a cultural icon in the 21st century, but her work dates back across seven decades. Her artworks not only tell the story of her life, and her unique view of the world, but also encourage the audience to think about profound questions regarding existence. One of her most popular works, known as the Infinity Room, immerses the audience into a boundless space and has drawn praise and criticism, both of which explore the form of expression she calls “Kusama art”.

Her art influenced generations of artists to experiment with new forms of visual expression, but it also revolutionised a male-dominated art scene and paved the way for self-representation in art through fashion in the 1950s, when young, aspiring female artists were not welcomed. Moreover, Kusama’s example of using art and writing as a form of expression and therapy has helped remove the stigma surrounding mental health issues and allowed more people to express themselves freely.

Her exhibitions have inspired me in my own creations. I often draw to express emotions that I cannot write down. I have also come across many artists using artwork as a form of therapy and self-expression, some well-known examples besides Kusama being Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch. I believe that art can be further utilised in therapy.