Yayoi Kusama (B. 1929)

“Painting, which is powerful enough to wrap up the whole universe, not to mention the earth, is Kusama’s Infinity Nets. I will probably continue to paint this endless wed, which I have worked on for the past 40 years. Yayoi Kusama is unchangeable. Here let me repeat what I said in New York in the 1960s. I feel as if I will continue to drive down the endless highway, until I reach my death. It is like continuing to drink thousands of cups of coffee which are served at automatic cafeterias. Whether I want to or not, I’m determined to desire every possible sense and vision, and at the same time, continue to run away till the end of my life. I can neither stop my existence nor escape from death. This is my way of living and dying.”

Yayoi Kusama, quoted in Yayoi Kusama: Recent Oil Paintings, exh. cat., Ota Fine Arts, Japan, May 1998.