No. I.Z

Yayoi Kusama began making art during childhood as a vehicle for both escape and therapy. At the age of 12, she sketched an elaborate, disturbing portrait of her mother based on hallucinations of repeated, encompassing patterns of dots and colors. These visions would continue to influence her art and appear in her performances, paintings, sculptures, and environments throughout her career. In 1957 Kusama moved from Japan to New York and began her “infinity net” paintings, filling canvases with minimal, meditative compositions of netlike patterns. While these patterns appear to be devoid of an overtly expressive quality, the artist’s labor-intensive technique of mark making reflects her highly emotive intent and obsessive concern with process. She has lived and worked in Japan, at times under unorthodox conditions, since 1973.