15 Beautiful Yayoi Kusama Art Projects for Kids
Celebrate the world’s most successful living artist with these beautiful Yayoi Kusama Art Projects for Kids! Find out what’s behind all those dots!
“Forget yourself. Become one with eternity. Become part of your environment.”
You’ve probably seen or heard of mirror rooms that are seen at carnivals and fairs, which have lots of mirrors facing each other, aimed at confusing the person in the room. But the image below is of something entirely different – it’s no ordinary mirror room, but an Infinity Mirror Room.
This room is lined with mirrors, but what makes it different from other mirror rooms is that it’s got thousands of little neon balls hanging at different heights. Light gets reflected by both the mirrors and the balls, creating an illusion that the person in the room is in a never-ending space, hence the name Infinite Mirror Room.
Who would create something like this? Well, only someone insanely talented, who goes by the name of Yayoi Kusama!
Who was Yayoi Kusama?
Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan to a conservative family that wanted her to grow up and become a traditional Japanese housewife. But little Yayoi wasn’t interested. She had a tough childhood, with abusive parents and mental health issues, and there was only one thing that gave her solace – art.
Yayoi Kusama started her art journey in Japan, then moved to the United States and returned to Tokyo later in life. Today, she is the world’s most successful living artist and the world’s top-selling female artist, being nicknamed ‘The Queen of Polka Dots‘.
Yes, a lot of Kusama’s art is covered in polka dots, and you’ll often find her covered in dots herself! Let’s go ahead and learn about Kusama’s love for dots and pumpkins as we try out some fun Yayoi Kusama art projects for kids!
15 Yayoi Kusama Art Projects for Kids
1. Yayoi Kusama-Inspired Dot Day Flowers
Polka dots were very special for Yayoi Kusama – so much so that she was prepared to cover everything with them! She said, “Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity.” Deep Space Sparkle celebrates this spirit of Kusama with a project that goes well with International Dot Day too.
2. Yayoi Kusama-inspired Infinity Pumpkins Craft
If you explore Yayoi Kusama’s work, you’ll notice a prominence of not trees, fruit or landscapes, but pumpkins! Kusama’s family owned a seed farm and plant nursery, and she was attracted to pumpkins from a young age. She found them fascinating, and they became a major motif of her work. Art with Jenny K shows us how to create a colorful art project featuring pumpkins and polka dots in true Kusama style.
3. Yayoi Kusama Creative Art for Kids
Kusama didn’t just paint and sculpt; she also gave performances, wrote novels and poetry, and even launched her own fashion line! Kitchen Counter Chronicle brings us another addition to this list of Yayoi Kusama art projects for kids by showing us how to create a polka dot-themed art in great detail, with different sizes of dots.
4. Kusama-Inspired Dot Pumpkins Tutorial
Yayoi Kusama has always been vocal about her love for pumpkins. She found them ‘humorous’ and ‘warm’, and would observe their structure like an eager child. Here, Arty Crafty Kids shows us how to draw pumpkins like Kusama, and fill them in with dots.
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Here’s an interesting addition to our list of Yayoi Kusama art projects for kids – a book written by the artist herself! This art book talks about the artist’s history with photos of her as a child and young woman. It also features her canvases, sculptures, and installations as well as her fashion designs in gorgeous detail.
6. Yayoi Kusama Paper Plate Art
By now, you’ve probably noticed some similarities between Kusama’s work and the work of artists like Andy Warhol. That’s because they’re all part of the Pop Art movement, which was popular in New York in the 60s. These art projects by Nurture Store also reflect the same themes.
7. Mini Obliteration Room Diorama
The Obliteration Room is an installation by Kusama, where a completely white room and its furniture is covered all over with colorful dot stickers. Finally, everything in the room seems to disappear into each other; hence the name ‘obliteration’. Lotta Magazine tries to create a mini obliteration room inside a box with dollhouse furniture and stickers.
8. Kusama Flower Collage
Kusama started her art journey the ‘normal’ route, drawing mainly on paper. But she soon found that paper wasn’t enough to contain her creativity, and she progressed to creating art everywhere – on canvases, floors, walls and even things around the house! After all, she strongly believed in the ‘interconnectedness’ of all things, a concept Lillian Gray Art and Art History explores in this art project.
9. Yayoi Kusama Dotted Pumpkins for Kids
If you notice a lot of pumpkins in this list of Yayoi Kusama art projects for kids, we can’t help it! Kusama was completely drawn to them, and one reason is possibly the significance of pumpkins in Japanese culture. Pumpkins symbolize abundance and good fortune, and they gave Kusama a link to her heritage. Art is Basic brings us lots of ways to recreate Kusama’s pumpkins in different colors and backgrounds.
10. How to Draw Yayoi Kusama
We’ve explored many paintings by the artist, now how about drawing Kusama herself? Art Projects for Kids has a full step-by-step tutorial for drawing Kusama’s face in this post.
11. Kusama’s Tulips Art Project
Kusama shared a love for painting flowers with American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe and Kusama wrote to each other, and it was her who convinced the young Japanese artist to move to New York. O’Keeffe even supported Kusama when she was having a tough time selling her paintings. Celebrate both artists’ love for flowers with this tulip art project from Little Bins for Little Hands.
12. Kusama-Inspired Pumpkin Collage
Fantastic Fun and Learning has an interesting collage that uses different materials to create a multi-media pumpkin. This one’s small, but Kusama once created a giant pumpkin sculpture in Naoshima. It was 2.5 m wide, yellow with black spots and became an iconic representation of Kusama’s work.
13. Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin
Now that you’re familiar with Kusama’s work featuring pumpkins and polka dots, why not use these elements this Halloween? Handmade Charlotte shows us how to decorate a plain white pumpkin with dot stickers. It is believed that Kusama was impressed by the smooth white stones near the river in her hometown, which greatly influenced her art.
14. Yayoi Kusama Microorganism Art
Since the 2000s, Kusama has collaborated with many major brands, including Lancôme, Marc Jacobs and most famously, Louis Vuitton. The LV collection featured pumpkins and polka dots and became an instant hit in Asian countries. Here, Faber Castell enters the scene with a fun Kusama-style microorganisms art.
15. Plastic Bottle Flowers Sculpture
Kusama loved flowers because of their symbolism – flowers represent metamorphosis and they adapt to the seasons in Japan. Kusama has created many large-scale floral installations made fo fiberglass, metal and other materials. Lotta Magazine celebrates the beauty and symbolism of flowers with this recycled plastic bottle craft.
We hope these Yayoi Kusama art projects for kids have given you an insight into Kusama’s life and work. Yayoi Kusama wanted her art to be an immersive experience for the viewer. She considered herself a part of her environment, and her concern extended to people suffering in war zones. Her work often reflected the horrors of war, and during the Vietnam War, she participated in demonstrations in New York. She even wrote an open letter to the then U.S. President, Richard Nixon, saying, “You can’t eradicate violence by using more violence.” Let’s share this message and use art as a medium for peace!
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