Quotes Meaning

"Suppose I put polka dots all over my body and then cover my background completely with polka dots. The polka dots on my body, merging with those in the background, create an optically strange scene."

- Yayoi Kusama

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is well-known for her colorful, repeating designs, which frequently incorporate polka dots. When she was starting to make a name for herself as an avant-garde artist in New York City in the early 1960s, she began utilizing these motifs. The polka dot pattern, which can be found on paintings, sculptures, and installations, has come to represent Kusama's art.

Kusama expresses her personal battles with mental illness and excessive environmental stimuli through her iconic dots. She sees the dots as a representation of an endless universe that exists outside the realm of human perception. She refers to a technique in which she fully immerses herself in her art when she talks about how polka dots cover both her body and the background. This idea is profoundly symbolic in addition to being visually arresting.

Consider Kusama as a painter who employs polka dots, which resemble seeds dispersed throughout an infinite expanse of white canvas. In the same way that those seeds eventually sprout into trees that cover every square inch of the terrain, the dots on her body and in her artwork come together to form a cohesive whole. This method enables viewers to feel as though her pieces are infinite and interconnected.

Kusama invites us to view the world from her distinct viewpoint, where the lines separating the self from the environment are blurred, by discussing how she merged with her surroundings through polka dots. Like standing under a starry sky on a clear night, her works frequently give viewers the impression that they are a part of an infinite universe.

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