Inspiring Glimmers — Dotting Things Up! — Encore Artists

This week’s “Eclectic Artist Glimmer” focus is on the imaginative and remarkable world of Yayoi Kusama and her world of dots.

Yayoi Kusama has been an inspiration to me for many years. She is now 96 years old and continues to share her artistic vision with the world.

Kusama has been creating art for over 80 years. Her work is bold, exciting, and continues to change. She paints, sculpts, writes, and uses film and photography to express her art. She creates interesting installations, makes unique performance art, and works with fashion. She is such a great role model for all of us who are reaching for a long and interesting artistic life. Her colors are rich and saturated, and the patterns of her dots seem to move — like the vibrations of life.

Despite lifelong struggles with mental health, Kusama has used art as both a sanctuary and a form of expression, living voluntarily in a psychiatric hospital since the 1970s while continuing to make art. Her openness about her mental health challenges has been a gift to others who struggle, and a reminder that art making is everything good: beautiful, meditative, and healing.

Personally, I have learned important insights about myself and my art making from her art and life. As a woman artist, it’s important for me to comprehend the love, tenacity, and commitment she pours into her artistic vision. Every time I draw a dot, I think of her and I smile, feeling connected to her work. Her art gives me energy and motivation. Kusama’s quotes below sum up many of her themes and the value she finds in art:

“I wanted to start a revolution, using art to build the sort of society I myself envisioned.”

“My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots.”

“With just one polka dot, nothing can be achieved. In the universe, there is the sun, the moon, the earth, and hundreds of millions of stars.”

“By obliterating one’s individual self, one returns to the infinite universe.”

Which quote above jumps out at you? For me, I love “obliterating one’s individual self, one returns to the infinite universe.” I can’t look at her work now without feeling this idea — I am transported and feel both infiniteness and aloneness.

Art‑making prompt: a Kusama‑inspired upcycle

A fun art‑making project inspired by Yayoi Kusama.

Step 1. Find a used candlestick — or a tallish, stable object to upcycle that is interesting to you. Imagine adding clay and paint. I love garage sales and thrift shops. I found this quirky but super‑cool metal asymmetrical candlestick — super cheap, on sale at a thrift store. Check that it’s sturdy and can hold the weight of clay embellishments. Turn it around and see what you can envision.

Step 2. Sketch out some shapes / ideas for the upcycle. I started immediately having the idea of this becoming a flower, with stems and the center being the candle with the wick part. I wanted the petals to be asymmetrical — bent and angled to articulate the interesting lines of the original candlestick. I quickly sketched a petal/flower design.

Step 3. Air‑clay building.

Take some air‑dry clay (I love Sculpd) and make a ball.
Using a roller (or your hand) roll out a flat sheet, about 1/8 inch thick.
Lightly outline petal shapes (I wanted uneven petals).
Cut out the individual petals and attach them to the candlestick.
Attach all the petals to create the full flower.
Using tiny amounts of water, plus cardboard and tape for support, begin shaping and experimenting with the overall design. Bend, look, and enjoy this process.
Reinforce any thin joint areas and smooth out rough areas.

Step 4. Allow to dry overnight, uncovered. Inspect the clay, smooth out, and add tiny amounts of soft fresh clay to any areas that could use support. If desired, add some water and clean the metal with a paper towel.

Step 5. Painting (any medium‑flow acrylic paints — even inexpensive craft paints work well).

On a separate piece of paper or your sketchbook, try out a base color and explore accent color combinations. Keep the colors simple.
Start painting the first layer — this part is so rewarding.
Decide if you want to add lighter or darker versions of your colors.
When the paint is dry, add some POSCA acrylic marker dots (I loved feeling connected to Kusama like this).

Step 6. Varnish/seal. I used polyurethane spray — satin finish, oil‑based. Spray or paint on.

Voilà.

Curated inspirations

A great documentary trailer from 2018.
A wonderful book on Kusama, with a focus on her language.
Where you can currently see Kusama’s work on display:
- Grand Central Madison Terminal in New York City — permanent works from her My Eternal Soul series.
- The Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo, with a rotating exhibition on her use of color (advance reservations required).
- SFMOMA in California — Infinite Love exhibition.
- WNDR Museum in Chicago — Dots Obsession installation, ongoing.
- WNDR Museum in Boston — Let’s Survive Forever.