Yayoi Kusama

Polka dot artist, lives in asylum by choice

Contemporary weird famous 166 sayings

Sayings by Yayoi Kusama

My life is a dot. A single dot that has expanded to the sun, the moon, the stars.

1999 — Interview with Art in America
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I want to be reborn again and again, as a flower, or a spider, or a tree, to create art.

2002 — From her autobiography 'Infinity Net'
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The polka dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka dots become movement. Polka dots are a way to infinity.

2018 — Interview with The Guardian
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I am a modern Alice in Wonderland.

1999 — Interview with ARTnews
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Each time I have a problem, I forget about it by drawing pumpkins. I have been doing this for a long time.

2017 — Interview with The Japan Times
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I am just one dot in an infinite universe.

2002 — From her autobiography 'Infinity Net'
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I convert the hallucinations and obsessions I have into sculptures and paintings.

2012 — Interview with Tate
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I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only way I can conquer my illness is to resolve all the emotions that are born from it into my art.

2013 — Interview with The Brooklyn Rail
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My art is an expression of my life, particularly of my mental disease, and of my desire to escape from it.

2002 — From her autobiography 'Infinity Net'
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I was born in a field of violets and raised among pumpkins.

2019 — Interview with Artnet News
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Life is a dream, and I want to be immersed in it.

2017 — Interview with The New York Times
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I want to be remembered as an artist who fought for freedom and love.

2017 — Interview with Vogue
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I am a prophet of the universe.

2002 — From her autobiography 'Infinity Net'
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Our earth is only one dot among a million stars.

2018 — Interview with The Guardian
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I want to explain to the whole world that I am a living artist, and I am still creating.

2012 — Interview with W Magazine
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I believe that the world would be a better place if everyone had the same artistic vision as me.

1960s — Attributed, but specific source hard to pinpoint, likely from an early interview or manifesto.
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My soul is crying out for peace and love.

1999 — Interview with Art in America
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I am an avant-garde artist who has come from the country of Japan.

2012 — Interview with Tate
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I want to commit suicide by art.

1950s — From a letter to a friend in the 1950s, quoted in 'Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective' book.
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I wish to become one with the universe, to be absorbed in the cosmos.

2002 — From her autobiography 'Infinity Net'
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