パフチャレク パヴェウ

This essay engages an often-proposed inquiry into ties between the creative world of Kusama Yayoi and certain philosophical or religious systems. Although the artist frequently explains her actions as self-birthed and devoid of any context, we can nevertheless discern a distinctive closeness between Kusama's creativity and those philosophical and religious references. I explore the presence of such references in Kusama's works, first considering Kusama's artistic universe from the perspective of Western philosophy. Here, I tease out connections between ideas expressed by a Japanese artist coming to New York in the late 1950s, Anaximander's ancient Greek philosophy, and Nietzschean philosophy. Next, I shift focus to Kusama's more Eastern-related views, specifically on infinity and enlightenment, and explore potential Zen Buddhist influences in her unpublished play script "The Gorilla Lady" and her paintings. Finally, I discuss Kusama's works in the context of Japanese psychiatrist-collector Takahashi Ryūtarō's "Mindfulness!" exhibition series.