Watching the Sea 1989

Editor: This is Yayoi Kusama's "Watching the Sea," painted in 1989 using acrylic. It’s a portrait, but done in that vibrant, repetitive style so typical of her work. There’s something both whimsical and unsettling about it. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The "unsettling" you describe is quite apt. Kusama's work, particularly in this period, can be read as a radical act of self-representation against the backdrop of a male-dominated art world and a society grappling with identity and mental health stigmas. How do you see the repetition of patterns functioning here? Editor: I guess it’s kind of mesmerizing, but also maybe overwhelming? The patterns are everywhere, almost consuming the face. Curator: Exactly. The face itself is being fragmented, replicated – dissolving perhaps? Think about Kusama's personal struggles with mental health, her voluntary commitment to a psychiatric institution. How might this act as a form of resistance, a reclamation of the self through art that challenges conventional notions of beauty and sanity? Editor: That makes so much sense. The patterns feel less decorative now and more like an expression of her internal experience, a way of visualizing her mental state. Curator: And notice how this echoes feminist art strategies of the time. Reclaiming the female body and experience was key to feminist discourse. By placing herself, her image, front and center and deconstructing it, she actively resisted marginalization. Do you agree? Editor: Absolutely! I hadn’t considered the feminist angle so directly, but now I see how her personal struggle connects to broader themes of identity and resistance. Curator: It’s in these intersections – the personal, the political, the artistic – that Kusama’s work truly resonates. We see the work reflects identity, resistance and internal experience all wrapped together in colorful shapes! Editor: That’s really powerful. I’ll definitely look at Kusama's art with fresh eyes now!