Exploring Yayoi Kusama at NGV
A Mesmerizing Interactive Art Experience
We visited the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) during our recent trip to Melbourne to experience the incredible Yayoi Kusama exhibition.
Who is Yayoi Kusama?
Yayoi Kusama is a renowned Japanese contemporary artist known for her captivating sculptures and immersive installations. Recognised as one of Japan’s most influential living artists, she is the world’s top-selling female artist and one of the most successful living artists globally. Kusama has been creating art for over seven decades, from the 1950s to today. Next month, she celebrates her 96th birthday—an incredible milestone in a legendary career!
I wasn’t familiar with all these details before visiting. However, whenever I travel to Melbourne, I always check what’s on at the NGV, as they frequently showcase stunning exhibitions. This exhibit's vibrant colours, interactive elements, and large-scale installations caught my attention, making it an ideal experience to share with my son.
Immersive Yayoi Kusama Installations at NGV
While many of Kusama’s famous artworks were on display, it was her immersive installations that truly stood out. Her signature repetitive patterns and mirrors were used to create surreal, endless effects. These illusions blurred the room's boundaries, making each installation seem like it extended infinitely.
Polka Dot-Themed Immersive Rooms
Yayoi Kusama’s signature style inspired two polka dot-themed rooms:
Dots Obsession: This red room with white polka dots featured large inflatable objects and mirrors, making the small space significantly larger. The inflatables, covered in polka dots, created a dreamlike atmosphere that played with perception.
Yellow and Black Tentacle Room: A striking contrast to the first, this room was covered in yellow and black and featured numerous dotted tentacles. The tentacle design and colour scheme reflect a recurring theme in Kusama’s work, seen in her famous pumpkin sculptures and her yellow and black tentacle paintings displayed earlier in the exhibit.
Interactive Yayoi Kusama Exhibits: The Obliteration Room & Flower Room
A highlight of the exhibition was the two interactive exhibits, where visitors became part of the art itself:
The Obliteration Room: Inspired by Kusama’s love of polka dots, this exhibit started as an entirely white space, including walls, floors, furniture, and even plants. Visitors were given sticker sheets filled with colourful polka dots to place anywhere they liked. Over time, the room transformed into a vibrant, sticker-covered masterpiece.
The Flower Room: Similar in concept but using red flower stickers, this installation followed the same participatory approach—encouraging visitors to obliterate the white space with floral patterns.
Watching how the stickers accumulated was fascinating. In the Obliteration Room, most stickers were placed at torso height, extending gradually to the ground and ceiling. Some visitors even started connected chains of dots, which others built upon—a beautiful example of collaborative art.
Kusama’s Love for Mirrors: Infinity Rooms & Light Installations
Kusama frequently uses mirrors to distort space and create illusions, making rooms appear endless and immersive.
LED-Lit Ladder Installation: A simple yet effective sculptural illusion featuring glowing ladders reflected infinitely in mirrors.
Infinity Mirror Rooms: These rooms were the exhibition's highlight, strategically placed towards the end to leave a lasting impression. Visitors entered in small groups, with the doors closing behind them to fully immerse them in the mirrored environment.
Infinity Mirror Rooms at the Exhibition
Chandelier Room: This octagonal room features mirrors on all sides, reflecting a single chandelier in the centre. The mirrors multiplied the chandelier endlessly, creating the illusion of a grand, infinite space of floating lights.
Tentacle Room: My personal favourite, this mirrored room was filled with inflatable tentacles attached to the floor and ceiling like stalagmites and stalactites. Each tentacle was covered in black polka dots and internally lit with changing LED colours, transforming the room into a mesmerising, ever-shifting display.
Mirrored Ball Room: The final mirror room featured LED-lit mirrored spheres that reflected off the mirrored walls, creating an overwhelming sensation of infinite realms of colour and light.
A Family-Friendly Art Experience
My son loved the interactive exhibits and the immersive rooms. While we had to keep him from climbing on the traditional artworks, these hands-on spaces allowed him to engage with art in a fun and safe way. Even though he might not fully understand the significance, I loved exposing him to creative and cultural experiences.
Have you experienced Yayoi Kusama’s work or any other interactive art exhibits? I’d love to hear about your experiences and how your little ones enjoyed them! Share your thoughts in the comments.
