Yayoi Kusama Pumpkins

"I always see these landscapes in my dreams, and feel happy.
I desperately try to transform these dreams into artwork, so that even while napping, I construct and
reconstruct various images."

- Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama is one of my favorite artists to introduce to students in the art room. Yayoi Kusama is a
Japanese artist who creates sculptures, paintings, instillations and performance art. She is best known for
incorporating dots into almost everything she creates.

Elements of Art

Color, repetition and pattern are some of the elements discussed when talking about
Yayoi's art with my students.

Literature

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds is a great book to use when integrating literature into a
Yayoi Kusama lesson.  

Links

Yayoi Kusama Information
Yayoi Kusama Quotes
Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room | TateShots
Kids Critique: Yayoi Kusama's 'Give Me Love'
My Yayoi Kusama Pinterest Page

Yayoi Kusama Pumpkins

This project comes from Plastiquem

Part 1

First, students chose two pieces of construction paper (one for the pumpkin and one for their background). Students drew a pumpkin by starting with an oval shape in the center of their paper. We then make curved lines around the oval and added a stem.

After the pumpkin was drawn, students studied pictures of Yayoi Kusama’s infinity nets. Lines were drawn using oil pastels.

Part 2

Pumpkins were cut out and pasted onto the background paper. Students used black and white paint with q-tips to create dots.