Looking into Feminism art: Yayoi Kusama’s Accumulation(1963)

Accumulation(1963)

Being one of the most influential artists in the world, Yayoi Kusama’s unique pumpkins and dot obsession are famous and well known in nearly all countries. However, Kusama’s works are usually conceptual and it’s hard to understand the beauty of her work by simply looking at it. When looking into arts of Kusama, I believe that it is necessary to know her background and her inspiration in creating artworks.

Accumulation is one of her renowned work, which shows a black-and-white photo of Kusama lying on the background of nets without wearing clothes. In this work, Kusama ‘s body is full of dots, which shows her obsession in dots. She regards abundance of dots as a way to catch people’s eyes as well as her own style; and to express her stress or feeling, since she is suffering from OCD. As male was dominating at that period of time, it is hard for an Asian woman to stand up from all those artists. Hence, she often uses abundance of object to cause attention. And history proves that it was a success ‘strategy’.

From Accumulation, it is also noted that Kusama is nude in the middle of the work. And the reason of creating this image is highly related to Kusama’s cultural background. As sex was (or is) a taboo and a kind of dirty topic in Japan, women were forbidden to talk about sex in the public place. After leaving her own country, Kusama was affected by the open mind of western culture and tend to challenge her culture by presenting nude portrayal of herself and dots on her body. It shows the idea to refuse male domination and the courage to show female power.

Kusama’s works are often colorful and with the similar theme. They look simple, but have meanings inside. That’s the reason why I like her works.

#aesthetic #reflection #selflearning