Pumpkin, 2016

For Yayoi Kusama, pumpkins represent a source of radiant energy and are perhaps her best-loved motif, appearing in paintings, drawings, sculptures, and some of her most important installations. Both endearing and grotesque, these giant gourds have inspired her since childhood, when she was surrounded by her family's seed nursery in prewar Japan. In an autobiographical poem, she writes, "Pumpkins bring about poetic peace in my mind. Pumpkins talk to me."

Washington, District of Columbia · United States