Yayoi Kusama has described the hallucinations she experienced in childhood in terms of “radiance,” “scintillation,” and “auras.” The radiance emanating from her inner visions seems to transcend representations of light in the visible world and to inhabit the works themselves.

This exhibition explores Kusama’s art from a new perspective: light. In her drawings of the 1950s and collages created after her return to Japan; images seem to emerge from the darkness suffused with light. The Infinity Nets series, established during her years in the United States, creates a visual effect in which the surface appears to emit a faint glow, while her paintings from the 1980s onward radiate brilliant light through their profusion of vivid colors. In the recent large-scale painting series My Eternal Soul, which may be regarded as the culmination of her artistic career, metallic surfaces gleam across the canvases, while her use of color expands toward the twin poles of austere monochrome and explosive polychrome. This sustained exploration of light has run through Kusama’s art from the beginning of her career to the present day. In her mirror rooms, where mirrors and electric lights create the illusion of infinite space, and in her prints and sculptures incorporating glitter, light has evolved from a subject of representation into an integral element of the work itself. The exhibition also presents a large-scale sculpture clad in mosaic tiles gleaming with metal leaf, alongside an outdoor ladder sculpture incorporating mirrors that is being shown in Japan for the first time. Together, these works reveal the varied expressions of light created by a diverse range of materials. The otherworldly scintillation they produce seems to expand until it envelops the viewer.

For Kusama, light is both a source of creation and a means of expression. We invite you to trace her creative journey as she transforms the ceaseless radiance of her inner world into a rich and varied body of work.

L: LIFE 2015 Installation view at YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM, Tokyo, 2022 *Reference image
R: A Flower #6 1953 Private collection（Deposit: YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM）

L: Lemon Squash (1) 1999
R: Longing for Infinite Heaven 2020
All images © YAYOI KUSAMA