Yayoi Kusama, iconic ‘Infinity Room’ artist, dies at 97

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist whose polka-dot motifs, pumpkin sculptures, and immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms made her one of the most recognizable figures in contemporary art, has died at the age of 97. Her death, caused by multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital on August 14, was publicly confirmed on August 27 in a joint statement from the Yayoi Kusama Museum and Yayoi Kusama Foundation.nytimes+1

A Career Spanning Eight Decades

Born on March 22, 1929, in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Kusama began experiencing vivid hallucinations of dots and patterns as a child — visions that would become the foundation of her artistic vocabulary. After studying painting in Kyoto, she moved to New York in the late 1950s, where she rose to prominence amid the 1960s counterculture with radical happenings, large-scale installations, and public performances that blended feminism, sexuality, and social critique.straitstimes+1

Her influence extended to peers including Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, whom she inspired and in some cases directly shaped artistically. Despite early critical success, declining public attention in the 1970s prompted her return to Japan, where she voluntarily checked herself into a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo and continued creating prolifically from a nearby studio.dimsumdaily+1

Global Phenomenon

Kusama's later career brought renewed international fame. Her Infinity Mirror Rooms — immersive installations enabling visitors to experience endless reflections — attracted record crowds and became social media sensations on Instagram Meta Platforms, Inc. ↘ 6.98%. In 2017, she opened a museum dedicated to her works in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.nytimes+1

Widely acknowledged as the world's most commercially successful female artist, Kusama's paintings regularly sold for millions at auction. She was named to TIME magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2016 and received Japan's Order of the Rising Sun in 2006.straitstimes

Legacy of Resilience

Kusama was candid about art as her means of survival. "I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art," she once said. Often photographed in a colored wig and polka-dot clothing, she remained actively producing work until her final years, leaving behind a body of art that reshaped the boundaries of painting, sculpture, installation, fashion, and film.dimsumdaily