Kusama And Kimsooja Analysis

As time and artistic movements change, so do our perceptions of what constitutes “art.” In a continually globalized world these perceived boundaries are constantly being challenged by artists who blur the line of the relation between cultures, nations, religions and art. These changes are often stimulated by those who are unafraid to challenge the status quo. The artists of Japan and South Korea from 1960-2000 represent not only a formative time in the art world, but also a time of immense inventiveness and change. Two artists in particular, Yayoi Kusama and Kimsooja, illustrate how one can break the artistic mold, while also obscuring, or even infusing, ideals of various religions at the same time. It is clear that although they have begun …show more content…
When studying the process needed to create her Infinity Dots it is clear that Kusama’s work seems to have Buddhist influences as well, although they appear to be of a different manner. In Kusama’s case the almost obsessive process of painting a signular line which curves over and around itself in order to form a dot pattern in the negative space literally becomes a meditative process.This meditative process is utilized almost as a form of psychotherapy for Kusama. Through this meditative process she is allowed to deal with, or even forget about, the torments of her past that ultimately forced her to decide to live in a mental institution for the rest of her life. In essence she is using the trauma of her past as a vehicle for meditation and creation in the …show more content…
These truths are “the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering” ("Basics of…”). In more simplified terms these truths state that suffering exists, it has a cause, it has an end, and it has a cause to bring about its end. For Kusama the causes of her suffering are very much related to her childhood. She was raised in a very strict household where she was not permitted to create art at all, her father was terrible to her, and she was told she was to do nothing more with her life than marry rich (Tate). These events tormented her even after she was able to remover herself from the situation, leading to a later mental breakdown. However, according to Buddhism, the “cause to bring about the end” of her suffering is the creation of art through her meditative