YAYOI KUSAMA PUMPKINS
Yayoi Kusama - Video: Why is she obsessed with dots?
How Pumpkins have inspired Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama brief history and exhibitions
How to draw a Yayoi Kusami pumpkin
Paper-mache recipes
Small batch dough recipe
How Pumpkins have inspired Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama brief history and exhibitions
How to draw a Yayoi Kusami pumpkin
Paper-mache recipes
Small batch dough recipe
BIG IDEA: Create an artwork in the style of avante-garde and abstract artist Yayoi Kusama
ACTIVITY #1
VIDEO#1 History of Yayoi Kusama
VIDEO#2: Brief history on Yayoi Kusama and how to make pumpkins
Watch the video and read the written information on Yayoi Kusami and answer the questions below:
ACTIVITY #2
VIDEO #3: How to make a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin
BIG IDEA: Recreate your own organic form Yayoi Kusama inspired pumpkin. Look at Kusama’s artwork on the following pages for references to get inspiration. This can be:
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
ACTIVITY #1
VIDEO#1 History of Yayoi Kusama
VIDEO#2: Brief history on Yayoi Kusama and how to make pumpkins
Watch the video and read the written information on Yayoi Kusami and answer the questions below:
- What do all of Yayoi Kusama’s artwork have in common?
- Why did she create her artwork and what do repeating patterns make her feel?
- What was a defining moment in Yayoi Kusama’s life that shaped her into an artist?
- Why did she enjoy making pumpkin art.
ACTIVITY #2
VIDEO #3: How to make a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin
BIG IDEA: Recreate your own organic form Yayoi Kusama inspired pumpkin. Look at Kusama’s artwork on the following pages for references to get inspiration. This can be:
- A drawing, sculpture, or painting
- Your own real pumpkin painted or carved in the style of Kusami.
- Zentangle/doodle pumpkins
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
- Discover the artist Yayoi Kusama and how patterns influenced her art.
- Creating patterns to create the illusion of depth.
Yayoi Kusama is sometimes called the Princess of Polka Dots. All of her artwork have one thing in common: she loves to paint polka dots and other patterns. Yayoi Kusama brief history and exhibitions
“A 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 can’t stay alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka dot’s become movement. Polka-dots are a way to infinity” - Yayou Kusama
After moving to New York City in 1958, Yayoi started making paintings with repeated curved brush strokes of thick paint over a black or gray canvas. She calls these paintings “Infinity Net Series” and she still likes to make them. She says making them is a form of art therapy, because repeating the brushstrokes over and over makes her feel calm.
In 2014, one of her Infinity Net paintings, “White #28” painted in 1960 sold for $7,109,000.00 (seven million, one hundred nine thousand dollars) which is the highest price ever paid for a living female artist’s artwork.
Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important artists alive today. She is 91 years old.
Yayoi Kusama Examples:
“A 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 can’t stay alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka dot’s become movement. Polka-dots are a way to infinity” - Yayou Kusama
After moving to New York City in 1958, Yayoi started making paintings with repeated curved brush strokes of thick paint over a black or gray canvas. She calls these paintings “Infinity Net Series” and she still likes to make them. She says making them is a form of art therapy, because repeating the brushstrokes over and over makes her feel calm.
In 2014, one of her Infinity Net paintings, “White #28” painted in 1960 sold for $7,109,000.00 (seven million, one hundred nine thousand dollars) which is the highest price ever paid for a living female artist’s artwork.
Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important artists alive today. She is 91 years old.
Yayoi Kusama Examples:
Drawing Pumpkins Instructions
How to draw a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin
1. Using step by step drawing guide, break down and simply draw the steps demonstrated. You are encouraged to draw different shapes of pumpkins. This can be done on colored paper or white paper. Fill as much of the paper as possible.
2. Fill your pumpkin with dots to create an illusion of form. Note how Kusama uses sots and makes them smaller to bigger towards the middle . Permanent markers or sharpie can be used. Your dots do not have to be black.
3. The STEM...Note that Kusama’s stem in inverse, meaning, an apposite and opposing color. Her dot’s are white and negative space black.
4. Erase any pencil marks and cut your pumpkin out.
5. Background: chose a colored paper that complements or contrasts with pumpkin color and create a pattern different from polka dots OR find a paper with a fun pattern on it. Paste your pumpkin to the background paper.
Student Examples:
How to draw a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin
1. Using step by step drawing guide, break down and simply draw the steps demonstrated. You are encouraged to draw different shapes of pumpkins. This can be done on colored paper or white paper. Fill as much of the paper as possible.
2. Fill your pumpkin with dots to create an illusion of form. Note how Kusama uses sots and makes them smaller to bigger towards the middle . Permanent markers or sharpie can be used. Your dots do not have to be black.
3. The STEM...Note that Kusama’s stem in inverse, meaning, an apposite and opposing color. Her dot’s are white and negative space black.
4. Erase any pencil marks and cut your pumpkin out.
5. Background: chose a colored paper that complements or contrasts with pumpkin color and create a pattern different from polka dots OR find a paper with a fun pattern on it. Paste your pumpkin to the background paper.
Student Examples:
Sculpture references:
Drawing References: