Yayoi Kusama

Written by Sarah Suzuki, a curator at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and featuring reproductions of the renowned creator’s instantly recognizable artworks, the colorful Yayoi Kusama tells the story of an artist whose work will not be complete until her dots cover the world, from here to infinity.

Growing up in the mountains of Japan, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) dreamed of becoming an artist. One day, she had a vision in which the world and everything in it—the plants, the people, the sky—were covered in polka dots. She began to cover her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and even her body with dots.

As she grew up, she traveled all around the world, from Tokyo to Seattle, New York to Venice, and brought her dots with her. Different people saw these dots in different ways—some thought they were tiny, like cells, and others imagined them enormous, like planets. Every year, Kusama sees more of the world, covering it with dots and offering people a way to experience it the way she does.