Yayoi Kusama
Narcissus Garden, 1966-2011
1 600 stainless steel spheres
Variable dimensions, each sphere diam. 11 inches
Photo: JC Lett
Further images
Yayoi Kusama bases her work around recurring themes such as the infinite, or the self-portrait. She creates her work through the obsessive repetition of a single motif, generally polka dots....
Yayoi Kusama bases her work around recurring themes such as the infinite, or the self-portrait. She creates her work through the obsessive repetition of a single motif, generally polka dots. Her Narcissus Garden installation is made up of 1600 stainless steel mirrored spheres designed to float in a pool or pond. The work was presented for the first time in 1966 at the 33rd Venice Biennale, when Yayoi Kusama, who had not been invited to the event, poured the reflective spheres into the canals outside the Italian pavilion.