I like to think of Yayoi Kusama as the Betty White of the art world, because it's not every day that you find a woman in her nineties attract such a huge, young, fanbase on social media. She's the Princess of Polka Dots and her infinity mirror rooms, and polka dotted pumpkins have been drawing large crowds: 6 million last year alone. I couldn't get tickets to see her work when she was showing in Georgia. I like to teach my students about artists who have overcome great difficulties, such as mental health issues (the polka dot and net motifs come from Kusama's hallucinations), and non-supportive families. My students have huge challenges in their lives that I hope will strengthen them rather than defeat them. Art is a tool to navigate or face problems. It is for Kusama. I also love that she uses very high contrasting colors, like red and white or black and yellow, because it's easier for my visually impaired students to differentiate between shapes. For students with no vision, they sketched their ideas on a Tactiledoodle, translated the sketch onto large paper with Wiki Stix, and then I traced their drawing in hot glue so they could take up the Wiki Stix and paint their work by touch. So we studied an artist, we studied contrast, we studied pattern, and then we made our patterned paintings.
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