Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929)

‘A polka dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon which is calm. Round, soft, colourful, senseless and unknowing. Polka dots become movement… Polka dots are a way to infinity’ (Y. Kusama, Manhattan Jisatsu Misui Joshuhan (Manhattan Suicide Addict), Tokyo 1984, p. 124).

Deeply influenced by childhood dreams and visions of a world covered in polka dots and repetitive loops of netting, the concept of infinity has been the undeniable focus of Yayoi Kusama’s artistic practice. From her early intricate and thickly painted compositions of the 1960s to the meticulously executed clean dot compositions of the 2000s, it is apparent that the premise of the Infinity Net has not changed. In Infinity Dots the composition doesn’t begin in one place and end in another. It doesn’t adhere to conventions of horizon or figuration. It is all consuming. Painted in gradations of white, black and gray, and varying sizes, the dots create a hypnotic effect as they recede and protrude in an undulating arrangement. As the eye dances across the canvas, the viewer is pulled into the folds of the composition and provided a brief glimpse into what it might be like to exist in Kusama’s universe.