TOKYO — Yayoi Kusama, the avant-garde Japanese artist whose hypnotic polka dots and infinite mirror rooms captivated the world and transformed personal trauma into global art movements, died Aug. 14 in a Tokyo hospital. She was 97.
The Kusama Museum confirmed her passing on Aug. 27 via official social media channels, prompting an outpouring of grief from the art world and her legions of fans. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Kusama began experiencing vivid hallucinations as a child, seeing fields of dots and flowers that would later define her signature style. She moved to New York in the late 1950s, where she staged provocative happenings and soft-sculpture exhibitions that earned her comparisons to Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Her work, often described as “obsessional,” tackled themes of infinity, sexuality, and mental illness with unflinching honesty.
Kusama voluntarily lived in a psychiatric institution for decades, commuting daily to her studio, where she continued producing paintings, sculptures, and immersive installations well into her 90s. Her “Infinity Mirror Rooms”—cubes of mirrors with suspended LED lights—became blockbuster attractions at museums worldwide, drawing hours-long queues from London to Los Angeles.
The artist’s death resonated beyond gallery walls. Hong Kong-born singer and actress Ivana Wong, known in the Chinese-speaking world for her evocative lyrics, posted a tribute on social media, writing: “Thank you. Your art, your life, your devotion opened countless minds, released soul after soul, and let hearts find hope and comfort in the infinite.”
Wong recalled how Kusama’s “dots of light” were “not only treasured in mirror boxes but dwelled in every cell.” She closed her tribute by quoting from her own 2019 song “Polka Dot Queen,” which praises Kusama’s ability to “turn illness into creative spirit” and to make “space and time become magical and shocking.”
Kusama’s influence stretches across generations and disciplines. In 2017, she opened the dedicated Kusama Museum in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward, ensuring her legacy remained accessible to future artists. Her auction records include a 2019 sale of “Untitled (Nets)” for $7.1 million, but her true impact lies in democratizing modern art—bringing visceral, participatory experiences to audiences who might never set foot in a traditional gallery.
A Legacy of Resilience and Repetition
Despite battling severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression, Kusama channeled her inner world into a disciplined, prolific output. Her phrase “Obliterate the self” became a mantra for millions who found liberation in losing themselves within her endless patterns.
For now, the Kusama Museum has announced it will continue operations, with no immediate changes to its exhibition schedule. Art historians expect a surge of retrospective exhibitions in the coming months as institutions around the globe honor a woman who turned her “disease” into a universal language of hope.
As Wong wrote in her final lines: “Her mortal eyes could see the soul / Every color was a vision / Turning sickness into creative spirit / Kusama made her life a polka dot incarnation.”
