Yayoi Kusama, INFINITY-NETS (RED), 2018

Acrylic on canvas, 194 × 194 cm

A series belonging to the “Infinity Nets” collection.

The most important perspective for this work is that “repetition is not ornamentation, but the movement of the spirit itself.” The canvas is filled with countless small arcs and nets; each one is a small brushstroke, yet the overall effect evokes an endless expanse. MoMA explains that in this series, Kusama pursued “infinite repetition” and “infinite space,” indicating a structure where the distinction between figure and ground dissolves, leaving the viewer unsure where the foreground ends and the background begins.

Kusama began painting “Infinity Nets” immediately after moving to New York in 1958, and exhibited them as early as 1959. This series created an entirely different sense of scale and tension by endlessly accumulating minuscule repetitions, contrasting with the grand gestures of Abstract Expressionism at the time. Christie’s describes this series as integrating Eastern and Western elements while presenting Kusama’s unique, thorough, and persistent gestures against the male-dominated abstract painting of the era.

The Broad also describes Kusama’s “Infinity Nets” as **“a performance as a painting,” “an obsession in space,” and “a visualization of another world.”** In other words, this is not merely an abstract pattern, but a direct translation of the world Kusama sees, or the world she experiences internally, into the painting’s space.

Regarding this work, “RDUEL,” Christie’s describes the canvas as cadmium red brushstrokes spreading infinitely over a dark ground. This means that among Kusama’s infinity nets, the intensity of red is a very important aspect of this piece. Red is a color that simultaneously evokes vitality, excitement, caution, and pain, and in this work, it harbors strong tension and heat within its quiet repetitions. While the nets appear orderly, upon closer inspection, everything subtly sways and is not uniform. Consequently, the screen is not mechanical, but emerges as a “living repetition” imbued with the rhythm of the body.

Furthermore, Christie’s interprets the red world of this work as connected to Kusama’s childhood experience of a hallucination where “crimson flowers filled the entire universe.”* This suggests that the red in this painting is not merely a color choice, but touches upon Kusama’s primary visual experiences and mental imagery. The nets layered on top are an act of ordering to prevent being swallowed by hallucinations and anxiety, and a way to resist chaos.

Yayoi Kusama's relationship with spirituality

Kusama is known to have suffered from hallucinations and intense visual imagery since childhood. MoMA states that the net patterns can be seen as the materialization of these hallucinations. Christie’s also mentions that Kusama herself felt the nets to be **a form of “protection,”** and spoke of losing herself and expanding into the entire space through the act of continuous painting.

From this, it is clear that Kusama’s repetition is not merely decorative, but an approach to self-healing, immersion, and self-obliteration. By continuing to paint nets, the boundaries of the self blur, and instead, one dissolves into infinite space. Viewers, too, lose their visual footing before the canvas, finding themselves at the entrance to an experience similar to Kusama’s.

When viewed from a distance, this work appears as a large red “field,” but as one approaches, it transforms into an accumulation of countless delicate brushstrokes. This back-and-forth between “overall cosmic quality” and “partial handiwork” is the essence of Kusama’s work. Infinity in the distant view, persistent repetition up close—this duality makes the work more than just an abstract painting. Source

Furthermore, the size of 194cm square is also important. This is not so much a “painting” hanging on a wall, but an environmental scale that directly confronts the viewer’s body. As The Broad states, Kusama’s nets approach being an “environment” as much as they are paintings. This work is an extension of that, and it can be said to be a type of work that creates a feeling of being enveloped rather than merely observed.

“Infinity-Nets (RDUEL), 2018” is a crystallization of the themes of infinity, repetition, self-obliteration, and salvation that Yayoi Kusama has pursued for many years, manifested as an intense red field. Appearing calm yet overwhelming, orderly yet unstable—the depth of this work lies in the simultaneous existence of these conflicting sensations.

2018 Acrylic on canvas, 194 × 194 cm

A series belonging to the “Infinity Nets” collection.

The most important perspective for this work is that “repetition is not ornamentation, but the movement of the spirit itself.” The canvas is filled with countless small arcs and nets; each one is a small brushstroke, yet the overall effect evokes an endless expanse. MoMA explains that in this series, Kusama pursued “infinite repetition” and “infinite space,” indicating a structure where the distinction between figure and ground dissolves, leaving the viewer unsure where the foreground ends and the background begins.

Kusama began painting “Infinity Nets” immediately after moving to New York in 1958, and exhibited them as early as 1959. This series created an entirely different sense of scale and tension by endlessly accumulating minuscule repetitions, contrasting with the grand gestures of Abstract Expressionism at the time. Christie’s describes this series as integrating Eastern and Western elements while presenting Kusama’s unique, thorough, and persistent gestures against the male-dominated abstract painting of the era.

The Broad also describes Kusama’s “Infinity Nets” as **“a performance as a painting,” “an obsession in space,” and “a visualization of another world.”** In other words, this is not merely an abstract pattern, but a direct translation of the world Kusama sees, or the world she experiences internally, into the painting’s space.

Regarding this work, “RDUEL,” Christie’s describes the canvas as cadmium red brushstrokes spreading infinitely over a dark ground. This means that among Kusama’s infinity nets, the intensity of red is a very important aspect of this piece. Red is a color that simultaneously evokes vitality, excitement, caution, and pain, and in this work, it harbors strong tension and heat within its quiet repetitions. While the nets appear orderly, upon closer inspection, everything subtly sways and is not uniform. Consequently, the screen is not mechanical, but emerges as a “living repetition” imbued with the rhythm of the body.

Furthermore, Christie’s interprets the red world of this work as connected to Kusama’s childhood experience of a hallucination where “crimson flowers filled the entire universe.”* This suggests that the red in this painting is not merely a color choice, but touches upon Kusama’s primary visual experiences and mental imagery. The nets layered on top are an act of ordering to prevent being swallowed by hallucinations and anxiety, and a way to resist chaos.

Yayoi Kusama's relationship with spirituality

Kusama is known to have suffered from hallucinations and intense visual imagery since childhood. MoMA states that the net patterns can be seen as the materialization of these hallucinations. Christie’s also mentions that Kusama herself felt the nets to be **a form of “protection,”** and spoke of losing herself and expanding into the entire space through the act of continuous painting.

From this, it is clear that Kusama’s repetition is not merely decorative, but an approach to self-healing, immersion, and self-obliteration. By continuing to paint nets, the boundaries of the self blur, and instead, one dissolves into infinite space. Viewers, too, lose their visual footing before the canvas, finding themselves at the entrance to an experience similar to Kusama’s.

When viewed from a distance, this work appears as a large red “field,” but as one approaches, it transforms into an accumulation of countless delicate brushstrokes. This back-and-forth between “overall cosmic quality” and “partial handiwork” is the essence of Kusama’s work. Infinity in the distant view, persistent repetition up close—this duality makes the work more than just an abstract painting. Source

Furthermore, the size of 194cm square is also important. This is not so much a “painting” hanging on a wall, but an environmental scale that directly confronts the viewer’s body. As The Broad states, Kusama’s nets approach being an “environment” as much as they are paintings. This work is an extension of that, and it can be said to be a type of work that creates a feeling of being enveloped rather than merely observed.

“Infinity-Nets (RDUEL), 2018” is a crystallization of the themes of infinity, repetition, self-obliteration, and salvation that Yayoi Kusama has pursued for many years, manifested as an intense red field. Appearing calm yet overwhelming, orderly yet unstable—the depth of this work lies in the simultaneous existence of these conflicting sensations.