Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden

Yayoi Kusama’s Narcissus Garden is an immersive installation consisting of approximately 1,000 spheres with highly polished, reflective mirrored surfaces. As the title suggests, Narcissus Garden presents itself as a human-made garden, acknowledging and embracing the inherent narcissism in the viewer’s desire to see themselves reflected within it. The installation will fill the Whitaker Foundation Gallery, turning the space into an engrossing experience of shape, light, and reflections that will present moments of movement and stillness. The shape of the spheres is also indicative of the sun and moon, and when activated, their surface represents the union of man and nature.

First presented in 1966, Narcissus Garden has been reconfigured anew in recent years. With a multiplicity of meaning and interpretation, this monumental sculptural installation refers back to the fundamental trio of the art object, the natural landscape, and the viewer. This noteworthy and historically important work is a prime example of Kusama’s signature motifs of repetition and mirroring to create a sense of infinite space.