Dissolution and accumulation. Proliferation and fragmentation. The feeling of myself obliterating and the reverberation from the invisible universe. What are they? ─ Yayoi Kusama ‘The Struggle and Wanderings of My Soul’

Born in 1929 in the Militarism Japan, Kusama Yayoi was diagnosed with mental illness in her childhood and illusion became part of her daily life since. Creativity is a means to the way out for Kusama, not to escape but to accept and embrace it. The attention surrounding the artist is often on her mental illness, even in the context of her achievement. The academia has mixed opinion, some compares her to Van Gogh whose life is fed by art; Midori Yoshimoto, the author of ‘Into Performance — Japanese Women Artists in New York’, regards her appearance, mentality and style to be merely a persona. Despite of the difference comments, it is undeniable that a glimpse of her polka dots world is the route to her winding path of thinking.

A documentary on the artist, ‘Kusama Yayoi – I Adore Myself’, directed by Matsumoto Takako records the artist’s life and creative process during 2006 and 2007. The director spent one whole year with Kusama, profiling her account on mental illness and parents, as well as the creative process for her ‘Love — Forever’ series (50 Monochrome drawings in F100-size). Without imposing a personal analyse on Kusama, the film act as an objective and genuine record on the artist’s life outside her art.

Text: Ron Lam | Translation: dilettante | Photo Courtesy: Hong Kong Arts Centre | Update: 9 Oct 2008

‘KUSAMA YAYOI ─ I ADORE MYSELF’
Now – 2 Nov 2008
HONG KONG ARTS CENTRE
www.hkac.org.hk