Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese avant-garde artist known worldwide for her repetitive imagery of polka dots, pumpkin sculptures and mesmerizing mirror-based installations, died of multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital on Aug. 14, a foundation set up to support her said Thursday. She was 97.
With a career that spanned more than 60 years, the artist was a trailblazer in contemporary art. Kusama was also one of the most popular and commercially successful artists, with her shows drawing big crowds around the world and her paintings being auctioned off for millions of dollars apiece.
Born in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, Kusama began experiencing hallucinations at a young age, which she later depicted in her works as a means to overcome fears.
After studying painting at an art school in Kyoto, she moved to the United States in 1957. Eventually settling in New York, the artist released large paintings and soft sculptures and held body painting festivals and fashion shows, some of them in protest against the Vietnam War and other social issues.
She returned to Japan in 1973 and in recent years her popular "Infinity Mirror Rooms," an immersive installation series enabling visitors to experience endless reflections of themselves, attracted global popularity on Instagram.
In 2017, Kusama opened her own museum dedicated to her works in a neighborhood close to her home in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
Kusama, often pictured wearing a colored wig and flashy clothes with her signature polka dot pattern, was named to TIME magazine's list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.
She was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by the Japanese government in 2006.
