Pumpkin 1990

Yayoi Kusama made this “Pumpkin” with paint, a tool of art, a way of being. Look at the colour—the yellow and orange that's warm like a summer day, and the cool blue-green of the polka dots. The pumpkin feels more real because of the unreal colours. She's built up the pumpkin shape out of these tiny dots, each one carefully placed to create an image, like building a brick wall. I imagine her methodically placing them, one by one, to create this form, this thing. It gives the pumpkin a sense of movement, like it is growing before our eyes. It reminds me of the pointillist paintings of Seurat and Signac, but with a completely different sensibility. Where they were interested in the science of colour, Kusama is interested in the feeling of it, the way it can expand our minds. It is an ongoing exploration, a constant conversation between artists across time.