Japanese artist and polka dot queen Yayoi Kusama dies

Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, who transformed hallucinations into art and was known for her obsessive dot-covered paintings and pumpkin motifs, has died at the age of 97.

The announcement made on her official website said she died on August 14 but did not give a cause of death.

Frustrated with the confining nature of Japanese society, Kusama left for New York at 27, where she quickly made a name for herself with her paintings, inspired by hallucinations of flashing lights, dots and flowers she had seen since childhood.

She also wrote, took part in anti-war activities during the 1960s, and reportedly influenced artists such as Andy Warhol.

Kusama, who was candid about her mental health struggles, said New York gave her neuroses. Around 1977, a few years after returning to Japan, she voluntarily entered a mental hospital and lived there for decades, being driven to her nearby studio each morning.

"Dots come flying everywhere - on my dress, the floor, things I'm carrying, throughout the house, the ceiling. And I paint them."

Repetitive motifs were her trademark, in various shapes, resembling netting, swirls or worms, but most often dots, dancing proudly on her canvases, or as sparkling balls or dots of light in her installations.

A major retrospective of Kusama's work was staged at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2024. It was her biggest ever show in Australia.