Yayoi Kusama x Cult Factory

Lately I’ve started labeling the eclectic (slash weird) things I post (a shoe on the wall, a man in a cage, to name a few) with the authoritative, cheeky tagline, “don’t question my art.”

Am I being playful, making fun of the art/fashion world (and thus myself)? Or am I being haughty, informing you that only my opinion of what makes my work “art” matters? (obviously option 2).

Maybe it’s a little of both ;) Famed artist Yayoi Kusama sums it up best, explaining, “My art originates from hallucinations only I can see.” No one can really see her art through the same lens she does. Can we ever really understand?

I share a similar sentiment: My art originates from the beauty or terror I’ve chosen to see. It exists in my mind, whether you see it or not. Some of these works I refer to are spur of the moment, accidental visions that took as little effort as that infamous Basel Banana. If I see it as art, though, isn’t it art? Edgar Degas, one of my favorite painters, would disagree, claiming, “Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” Ugh, FINE.

I recently saw the stunning Steven Meisel campaign for the new Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collab, and it reminded me of a Cult Factory shoot I did in 2015 at the exhibit that first introduced me to her dynamic, adrenaline filled work. It was an amazing exhibition that started with all white decor that the viewers decorated with Kusama’s iconic spots! Each viewer was given a sheet of rainbow dot stickers to decorate the white furniture and walls with as he/she entered, merging the line between voyeur and artist. It was ingenious.

Meisel’s photos made me see my own, which in turn made me see Kusama’s. She often photographs herself in her own spotted environments, most often in matching dotted clothes. I’m emulating her here, the Mr. Brainwash version, perhaps. Established Art making one see Question Mark Art making one see Established Art = Art? I think so!

You can see what you want to see but, please,

don’t question my art! ;)