Polka Dots, Psychedelia, and the Enduring Legacy of Yayoi Kusama The passing of Yayoi Kusama, one of Japan's most celebrated artists, has left an eerie coincidence between her signature style – an obsession with polka dots that consumed her art and life – and the psychedelic culture that flourished in the 1960s.
Her work often blurred the lines between fine art and immersive experience, now seeming prescient in its exploration of reality and altered states.
Kusama's relationship with hallucinations began at a young age, as she revealed to Mo Rocca in a 2012 profile.