Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929)

“Unlike her later work, the specificity and uniqueness of the central image in A Face is typical of Kusama’s works on paper of the early 1950s. Delicate skeins of colored lines emerge from a lighter center which glows in the surrounding darkness. Mesmerizing, the delicate patches of color and lines become a face. Cartoon-like lips float below and to the right of the head. The use of space- positioning of the two elements- lips and head- and the abstractedness of the head in relation to the drawing of the lips- intuitive, mysterious, deeply satisfying- is the brilliance of Kusama. This is a particularly fine example of Kusama’s work on paper.” —
P. Cooper quoted in “Don’t Look.” Contemporary Drawings from Martina Yamin's Collection, exh. cat., Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 2007, p. 62.