In Memory of Kusama Yayoi, Artist of Permanent Collection (From Shikata Yukiko, Director)

I am shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden news of Kusama Yayoi’s passing. I offer my heartfelt prayers for her eternal rest.

Ms. Kusama’s permanent installation Love Forever, Singing in Towada (2010), created for the Towada Art Center, has long been a beloved fixture, brightening the Art Square across from Kancho-gai Street.

Ms. Kusama was a rare figure who, while remaining a world-renowned avant-garde artist, was loved by a wide range of people for her work. Her works, featuring colorful hues and motifs such as polka dots, have uplifted people, and her presence and personality have been cherished as objects of admiration.

Struggling with auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations from childhood, Kusama began painting using polka dots and mesh patterns as motifs. While suffering from her illness and family issues, she moved to the United States in 1957. There, despite facing discrimination as a woman of Asian descent from a defeated nation, she honed her avant-garde style and earned high acclaim. She returned to Japan in 1973 and, after establishing a system that allowed her to create while receiving medical care, threw herself into her art, bringing her unique worldview to full bloom not only in her paintings but also in her novels. Then, beginning in the 1990s, the singularity of her work and her very existence gained widespread recognition both in Japan and abroad. Her way of life—particularly for women—fundamentally questioned the very rationale behind the customs, prejudices, and discrimination that permeate society, and triumphantly proclaimed freedom from them.

What saved her as she continued to face numerous hardships, including illness, was the act of creating art. Remaining true to what drove her, she continued to draw dots and grids as naturally as breathing… In that sense, I believe Kusama’s life—in which living and creating were inextricably linked—was a fulfilling one.

Born from days so fraught with tension that one could say she survived by experiencing the joy of life through her art, her works are both obsessive and liberating, avant-garde yet brimming with a strikingly pop energy.
Life is painful, yet through her art she found happiness and brought happiness to others… Her works are imbued with the “love” and the powerful message of “peace” that Kusama consistently sought to convey.

Love Forever, Singing in Towada is an irreplaceable gift from Ms. Kusama to the people of Towada and to all who visit. Ms. Kusama’s love lives on in Towada. And deep respect and love for Ms. Kudsama also live on in the museum staff and the people of Towada.

[Addendum] In 1985, while I was in charge of the art section at a fashion building in Harajuku, I organized a competition called RAP (Radical Art Prize) and invited Ms. Kusama to serve as a judge. I still often think back on her from that time when we met.

August 27, 2026, 2:00 PM
Shikata Yukiko, Director, Towada Art Center

*translated by DeepL, checked by Towada Art Center