Artist Yayoi Kusama is a master when it comes to bringing out a childlike wonderment in audiences, leaving them slack-jawed as they take in their enchanting surroundings. The Japanese visionary has a distinct style that doesn't go unnoticed, especially in recent years, with the employment of polka dots, mirrors, water, and an array of LED light fixtures. There's a surge of jubilation that emanates from her multihued installation works and this piece titled Fireflies on the Water is no exception.
Having recently shown Infinity Mirror Room, her similarly constructed installation series at the Tate Modern, the octogenarian is following up by installing Fireflies on the Water in a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This installation was first introduced in 2002 and has gone on to show in different venues over the years. It offers an out-of-this-world experience from the confines of a modest room paneled with mirrors and adorned with 150 tiny beads of light deliberately suspended throughout the compact space. Upon entering the room, there's an illusionary effect that gives the impression of infinite space reflected on all sides and in the two inches of water that flows below.
If you are curious to feel the sensation of floating amongst a sparkling night sky, Fireflies on the Water just opened (on June 13), in anticipation of her retrospective which will run from July 12 through September 30, 2012.
Photo credit: Gabrielle Plucknette
Whitney Museum website
via [A Little Bit of Everything, The New York Times]
