The Mysterious and Lonely Final Decade of Yayoi Kusama’s Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Japanese artist spent the last seven years in isolation and declining health. Still, it was the most prolific chapter of her career.

 "Pumpkins were once a symbol of vitality for the artist.

It was a bountiful comfort of Kusama’s childhood in Matsumoto, a Japanese city about 100 miles northwest of Tokyo that was relatively untouched by the devastation of World War II. Despite having eaten pumpkins to the point of nausea in her adolescence, by her own account, the artist maintained an attachment to them into adulthood. She produced enormous, bronze, polka-dot sculptures honoring them."

read article by  Zachary Small