Now that the designers here help me establish how showering is a great avenue for our creative juices to flow, I was just thinking about how my article on Hayao Miyazaki attracted so many admiring voices. This might be the reason why I had the idea for this article while showering my baby girl yesterday!
So which designer do you admire for his/her work? I know design encompasses many fields, but I guess even if we are not familiar with your role models, we can all learn a bit about them through your sharing!
The designer who captured my heart and imagination? Yayoi Kusama.
I first encountered her work when I visited Naoshima, an island in Kagawa Prefecture that is an art hub. Just imagine this weird pumpkin juxtaposed against the incredibly blue sky and sea đ
How not to fall in love?!
My love for her was cemented when more than 120 of her works weee displayed at the National Gallery in my country.
I still remember standing in the spacious room and being awestruck by this garden of 1,500 stainless steel balls. They shone brightly, reflecting my body from all angles. What a way to be confronted with my appearance. I didnât quite know what to think, but I remember being trigger happy.
Another artwork I fondly remember is this yellow and black dotted room. It was bright and cheerful and outlandish. It also surprised me by having a mirrored cube in the centre. I peeked through that and was transported into a field of dotted pumpkins. đ
Apparently, Kusama suffered from hallucinations and anxiety attacks when she was young. Her mother often got her to spy on her philandering dad - and the constant stress and tension overwhelmed her. That was how she âsawâ a âspeakingâ pumpkin for the first time, which explains why pumpkins are a recurring theme in her work.