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Yayoi Kusama focuses on symbolism, repetition, and emphasis in her artworks through the use of polka dots. She is known for covering her various array of artworks in polka dots which has played a role in her distinct identity as an artist. One of the ways that this element reflects her views on the world is through the symbolism of these polka dots. The dots reflects her belief in the interconectedness of all living things and the idea that the universe is made up of countless particles. By combining this technique with another prominent technique in her arsenal such as mirrored rooms, we can see that it can also symbolize the infinity and repetition she sees in the world.

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- Being exposed to Kusama's different artworks for quite some time now, I noticed and observed how there is repetition or pattern in Yayoi's artworks wherein she really makes use of the negative spaces by often filling them up with circles. These circles could be represented and interpreted in different ways depending on how you look at it and every person's perspective may differ from one another. However, in a recent interview, she mentioned how she channels her hallucinations of polka-dotted visions to her artworks, each dot becoming an antidote to her mental trauma. This statement says a lot about her personality and character as an individual and as an artist.

does Yayoi Kusama employ to express her sentiments on the following concepts: life/art and creation/ views of the world/views of the universe/views of infinity?

- Yes, I think that she expresses her artwork through these concepts by really giving people a wider perspective but I also think how she expresses this is a form of her communicating or trying to relate herself to others.

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Yayoi Kusama chooses to relate her art to her own personal life. As we discussed in class, her traumatic childhood experiences and mental illness translate to her creations like the dots from her hallucinations. She has a very “unusual” or non-traditional way of expressing herself which is one the reasons she stands out. Her repetition and usual theme also shows her "obssessive" thoughts and the way she perceives herself.

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To express her sentiments on different concepts of life, art, views on the universe and infinity, Yayoi Kusama uses the specific art technique of symbolism and representation creating value to the different elements seen in her artworks.

Yayoi uses emphasis as an authorial choice on the different elements by making them stand out and be different, in order for those to understand its great meaning and purpose in the artwork. She creates symbolism and meaning to these concepts because of its focus and subject point.

Yayoi's choice of consistency in her artworks creates representation of her own artworks and patterns she uses. It allows for people to realize polka dots have a representation in her life and represent something to her.

Overall, Yayois choices of emphasis and consistency creates symbolism and representation in her artworks.

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Yayoi Kusama mostly makes use of repetition, space, and color in order to express her sentiments on life, art and creation, the world, and infinity.

While taking into account the fact that she considers herself an “obsessional artist”, we can see the repetition of a few major art elements through her work. The overall repetition throughout her pieces allows us to closely look into her perspective and authorial choices. The patterns showcase her view on infinity/infinite possibilities in life as many of her pieces have never ending designs to it, an example of this would be her infinity rooms. Looking into the element of space, Yayoi Kusama often makes use of it by either using negative space, or filling the entire space up. Doing this allow us viewers to focus on either the leading elements or repeated designs.

Lastly, her choice of colors set the mood of the entire picture. We get to see symbols and their colors/lack of colors that represent many things about life, etc.

Overall, these elements help express who she is as an artist and her views on the world. We get to be immersed into her art world and analyze the depth of her artworks.

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Teo Tantoco

I believe one of Yayoi Kusama's main authorial choices is repetition.

For Yayoi Kusama repetition is both a theme and a stylistic choice in one. This theme of repeating elements is present throughout all her artworks but it's especially prominent in her "infinity rooms". She uses repetition to encapsulate the vastness and overwhelmingness of infinity. She shows us just how many things truly exist and how infinity is both full and empty all at once.

I think it's masterful, using repetition to capture infinity.

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Yayoi Kusama uses metaphors in the form of visual imagery and patterns in order to express her sentiments on life, art and creation, views on the world, views on the universe, and views on infinity.

Yayoi Kusama employs the use of metaphors in her artwork as a vessel of communication to her viewers. Across her art pieces, Yayoi uses various objects/setups that hold a deeper meaning to them in order to convey her views on life and her surroundings. An example of this would be how in her work “Walking Piece”, she was seen walking through the streets of New York with an umbrella. While one would just see Yayoi walking in a city dressed in her Kimono and carrying an umbrella at first glance, we see her use of symbolism and metaphors in these photos. Some examples of these include how the umbrella shading her from her sun rays is parallel to how Yayoi shields herself from the criticisms of others.

Yayoi also employs the use of patterns in order to communicate more complex ideas, such as her views on the universe and infinity. Through her Infinity nets and Ruling series, Yayoi uses patterns in order to talk about her

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One artist technique that I noticed was prevalent throughout the different artworks of Yayoi Kusama is the use of patterns and repetition. I think that the repetition of certain patterns such as dots signifies the common theme of her artwork, infinity. She has said herself that she is an obsessive artist, and the repetition of dots/circles show how she "obsessively" makes art. An example would be her Infinity Nets artworks. Viewers may interpret it in different ways, based on the perspective they look at it in. This shows the theme "views of infinity", because she made the work so that viewers would have an infinite number of perspectives they could look at the artwork from. The repetition could have a "dizzying" effect on some viewers, signifying the overwhelming thought of life and infinity.

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Yayoi Kusama employs the use of repetition in her artworks to conceptualise the metaphysical- the universe and infinity. Despite the vastness of the theme, she uses one particular motif to execute her visions of universal infinity through polka dots of varying sizes. The variation of sizes allows Kusama to create an illusion of infinity, and these dots are often increasing in size to emphasize their departure from the centre and their spread towards infinity, as seen in her installation works and paintings.

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Yayoi Kusama manipulates space and subsequent negative space in order to place emphasis on different aspects of her work. By using polka dots in eye-catching colors in her work ‘Ready to Blossom in the Morning’ as a backdrop for the subjects, she divides the audience’s attention toward both the subject and the background. This shows how she desires to emphasize the subjects’ effect on the society that is represented by the pink polka dots. In her black and white infinity net piece, the polka dots are the main focus of her piece. White space in this work is little and spread out in comparison to the black dots and the greys that inhabit the work. This further pushes the narrative of the black net that traps people in infinity and in everything and nothing all at once. Through both of these two works, she has shown that she can manipulate space for different purposes.

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One thing that makes Yayoi Kusama's work stand out is her usage of dots in her artwork to show her creations and build meaning to her art. She uses polka dots to show her perspective and how it's different from different angles and directions which goes to show how complex her sentiments are in painting and how she wants different viewers to experience it no matter where they are.

Another thing that makes her stand out is how she inputs herself in her different paintings. An example of this is her artwork Ready to Blossom in the morning which serves as a deeper connection with her art because she doesn't just create it, she's also part of it.

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Kusama utilizes a multitude of elements to explore the different recurring themes in her art such as life, art, universe, and infinity. Techniques that frequently appear again and again within her work are an abundance and a focus on circles or circular shapes being the center of the art. These shapes are what dominate most of her artworks and they are almost the style she is best known for. Through the versatility of circles, she is able to trigger certain emotions through a piece of art whether it be existentialism or self-awareness in terms of relative size (the universe). Though many of her works are similar in terms of shapes, composition and color is unique for each work of art. The circular shapes exemplify elements fo cycles and feeling endless (infinity). She is able to effectively manipulate the sense of scale, size, and depth in an artistic piece through the use of light, mirrors, and color, using repetition of certain elements in a work to her advantage to create an atmosphere that feels endless and boundless, yet still grounded within a sense of reality, putting into perspective the significance of humanity within the bigger picture.

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Yayoi Kusama employs the use of repetition, organic shapes, and color in order to represent her unique take on the following concepts. Repetition in her work can be a call to her obsession- her discipline in her work which has created this extensive art world that she has created herself as a reference to her life as an artist. This repetition also creates an infinity effect which is how she chooses to view the universe- as the viewer feels small at the expanse of the work. Organic shapes and color in conjunction create a vivid movement in her work, which gives a quality of life and a multi-dimensional piece of work. It delivers an unconventional quality of her work to represent how she sees herself as an outlier in the art community.

Overall, these elements are commonly seen across all of Yayoi's works and create an identity for her art which makes it recognizable for viewers to identify her work. Her meticulousness, color, and organic shape deliver her obsession with infinity, life, and art- and how her take on the world is different than others.

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To me, Yayoi Kusama would take advantage of perceived scale in order to express infinity and large topics. She utilizes mirrors and the  size of the canvas compared to that of the subject to portray this. When you look at her work it is often full of smaller dots in a large room, made large  by the use of mirrors and such, likewise in her works, she utilizes a variety of techniques in order to show vastness, such as negative space, or lack thereof. She uses this in order to symbolize the vagueness of the topics that she tries to introduce, such as infinity and life, which are very complicated with multiple aspects and angles of which you can view it. Because of this, her works reflect that, to a certain extent, further pushed by the repetition of lines and dots that also help, by making it more difficult to focus on any one thing, making it seem much smaller than it is. In conclusion, Yayoi Kusama uses scale and contrasts of size in order to help further the points and topics she likes to introduce, showing the depth and thought she puts into her works.

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With the use of color, patterns and perspective, Yayoi Kusama was able to express her complicated views on infinity and the universe in a highly visual sense. In the many works that we analyzed, Yayoi used polka dots of numerous colors at varying distances in order to express infinity in a visual sense. This use of different distances heavily impacted the structure and the perspective of the infinity piece. The combination of these two aspects provided a deeply immersive experience for the viewer/observer.

Secondly, Yayoi Kusama used patterns throughout her works to symbolize complication. In the first piece we analyzed, we were able to see many squiggles or curves throughout the piece. This trend was slightly varied but still carried on through the rest of the pieces. Yayoi's insistence on using patterns with the already complicated color and structure provide more depth to the artwork and give it a greater impact to the viewer.

In conclusion, with the use of color, structure, and perspective in increasingly complicated patterns provides the viewer with a complicated and deeply immersive experience while still expressing the sheer size and complication of the infinite universe.