Spotting the Inspiration

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“How can one hope to proceed without inspiration?”
Walking down Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall, I saw a line of never ending shops. Every display window was the same: a faceless mannequin dressed in a fancy top and a patterned skirt or pants. As I approached the end of the long train of stores, something bright caught my eye. I could see strange twisted horns and exotic flowers. Everything in the shop’s window was covered in radiant red and white polka-dots. Even the bags and wallets were covered in the spotty pattern. Never before had I seen such an interesting display in a retail environment—in this case, the Louis Vuitton store. From the moment I saw the striking flower sculptures I knew that this display must have something to do with the noted artist, Yayoi Kusama, whose iconic colourful and spotty sculptures were on display at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Brisbane, in 2011.
As the fashion industry becomes increasingly competitive, designers are seeking inspiration from new sources. Marc Jacobs, the current designer for the Louis Vuitton label, has been collaborating with artists for a decade, producing innovative and thrilling fashion products (Coulson, 2012). Most recently Jacobs joined with Kusama to create a collection of bright polka-dot covered clothing and accessory items. Jacobs’s new range was inspired by the work of Kusama; however, it is worth digging further to explore how Kusama herself came up with the spotty pattern, which is now familiar to so many eyes.
The artist gathered much of her inspiration from her childhood, including the signature dots that flood most of her works. Kusama experienced spot and pattern hallucinations from an early age and she would... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

<p>Yayoi Kusama, Flowers That Bloom at Midnight, 2009. Fiberglass reinforced plastic, urethane paint. Collection of the artist. Installation view at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles. © Yayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo.</p>

Yayoi Kusama, Flowers That Bloom at Midnight, 2009. Fiberglass reinforced plastic, urethane paint. Collection of the artist. Installation view at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles. © Yayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo.

Yayoi Kusama, Japan b. 1929, Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin, 2010. Aluminium, paint 150x150xH200 cm, unique piece from a series of 10 pumpkins. Installation view at Towada Art Center. ©Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of Victoria Miro Gallery, London / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo / Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.