What’s the best way to introduce our children to Yayoi Kusama? Start with dots, of course! That’s what MOMA curator Sarah Suzuki has done in Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity, the children’s book that teaches our young artists about the legendary Japanese artist’s life and work.
Yayoi Kusama
From Here to Infinity
Sarah Suzuki – Author
Ellen Weinstein – Illustrator
Growing up in the mountains of Japan, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) dreamed of becoming an artist. One day, she had a vision in which the world and everything in it—the plants, the people, the sky—were covered in polka dots. She began to cover her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and even her body with dots. As she grew up, she traveled all around the world and brought her dots with her. Different people saw these dots in different ways—some thought they were tiny, like cells, and others imagined them enormous, like planets. Every year, Kusama sees more of the world, covering it with dots and offering people a way to experience it the way she does.
PUMPKIN ART INSPIRED BY YAYOI KUSAMA
1. Choose from either light/warm or dark/cool colored papers to draw your pumpkin on.
2. IF you picked a warm/lighter color, then paint with black dots.
IF your pumpkin is drawn on a cool/dark color, then paint with white dots.
3. When painting the pumpkins, start in the middle of each pumpkin section.
Dip your thumb to make the larger dots
Use a pencil eraser top for the next size
Use a pencil tip for the smallest size.
4. Once your pumpkin is dry, cut it out and glue it on your background paper.
5. Finally, create a triangle design background with a marker.
