Yayoi Kusama: Transcending Mental Illness

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who immigrated to the U.S. because she wanted to see her art thrive in a less conservative environment. Kusama was esspecially disturbed by the sexist environment of Japan. Kusama also left home because of her difficult relationship with her family. Kusama grew up in a complicated atmosphere with her dad being known as a womanizer which she describes as her mom’s fault becuase she didn’t give him a place in their home. Kusama’s mom ordered Kusama to spy on her dad’s affairs. Kusama also began experiencing hallucinations at the age of ten. Kusama’s hallucinations have inspired her work in countless ways. According to Kusama, the flower sculptures she has created represent the animated objects she saw. Kusama’s infinity rooms also reflect her fear of being obliterated and engulfed by the world around her. Her work almost has a scientific scope in terms of her feeling as insignificant to the universe.

Although Kusama herself and most people try to explain her work as simply a reflection of her own mental illness which may be true in some respect. Obviously, there is no way to really know how an artist hopes their work will interact in the world but we can discuss different ways in whcih it might interact in the world.

I first encountered the idea that rather than only being a reflection of her hallucinations, Kusama’s work acts as a psychoanalytic experience which transcends illness by creating an experience of collective consciousness where each person experiences Kusama’s work as a dive into their unconscious minds based on their subjective experiences. The source where I first encountered this understanding for Kusama’s work which is shaping my research paper was https://issuu.com/arken_museum/docs/bulletin_2017_fe4c9dee90af81.