Printmaking, which Yayoi Kusama began in 1979, has become integral to Kusama’s artistic practice. This series of prints was created between 2011 and 2012 based on a series of 33 small paintings painted intensively around 2004. The original series of paintings later developed into Kusama’s signature canvas series of recent years, including “Love Forever,” painted in black marker on a white canvas, “My Eternal Soul,” which emits dazzling colors from the tip of the brush, and “Every Day I Pray for Love,” which was recently exhibited at Ota Fine Arts Tokyo. These 33 works are important in that they are a catalyst for Kusama’s current style.
Repeating motifs of eyes, women’s profiles and the particulate organic bodies appear on a picture plane dominated by primary colors such as red, yellow, green, and blue. What is seen is somewhat different from the pumpkins, butterflies, grapes, and hats that have become the identifying mark of Kusama prints. Instead, the exuberant images derived from clear colors and doubtless improvised lines strongly catch the eye.
Kusama seeks new expressions in making full-scaled prints out of the 33 paintings. Choosing thick stately papers with various textures, and mixing different print techniques such as silkscreen, etching, embossing, and stencils, it is as if, in these prints, she is reflecting on her way of life.
