Yayoi Kusama Influence

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Within the contemporary art world, artworks have various levels of influence from previous artworks which depend on two factors. The first factor is the lingering effects of previous art movements on the current art scene. The second is the artist’s experiences and how they utilise them alongside the lingering effects to create art. Elements of the effects including similar styles and techniques are present through the art installation Infinity Mirrored Room – Hymn of Life, 2015 by Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama in comparison to the oil painting titled Mama, Papa is wounded, 1927 by Surrealist artist Yves Tanguy. The influence of Tanguy’s work within Kusama’s art is evident through the incorporation of certain elements. These elements …show more content…

One quality present is the similar conceptual approach through her shared interest with past experiences in an attempt to explore the unconscious state. Kusama’s exploration of the unconscious stems from her obsession with certain hallucinatory experiences from her childhood due to the extent of her mother’s abuse, a similar process used by Tanguy. Kusama’s obsession which is a motivation in her work is described as her continuous intrigue and supposed collaboration with her psychological disorder to create her art. This collaboration creates surrealist imagery, primarily in the repetitive form of polka dots, similar in fashion to Tanguy’s biomorphic forms. The polka dots are the simplistic symbol of her hallucinations, where “she senses the physical world is overtaken by endlessly repeated forms” . The repetition of the forms through the reflection of the mirrors create a multiplying illusion, setting the three dimensional scene of the infinite space of the unconscious mind. Kusama’s art style fits a criteria used by Tanguy leading to the creation of art considered surrealistic in the contemporary art scene. Yet within Kusama’s style, there are also differences that distinguish her

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