Yayoi Kusama arrived in New York in 1957 with her collection of small still lifes, portraits and natural scenes, all of which incorporated what would develop into her iconic, uniquely personal artistic idiom. Her spectacular early works on paper, including Butterfly and Embryo each from 1953 reference her academic training in Japanese nihonga painting, which utilized a water-based medium applied in layered washes to create a dynamic composition, placing great emphasis on the depiction of the natural world. Butterfly and Embryo mark an interesting transition between her earlier, traditional Japanese artistic conventions and her exploratory attempts to manifest the infinitude of the unbounded universe. Kusama’s interest in the natural world was directly influenced by her upbringing, as explained by Rachel Taylor, a curator at the Tate Modern, “Kusama’s family made their living by cultivating plant seeds and she grew up surrounded by fields full of flowers. This formative environment has been a touchstone for the artist throughout her life.”

Kusama finds the process of mark-making to be very healing, allowing her delicate handwork to soothe and de-clutter her mind. The resulting whimsical and colorful compositions in turn represent her own obsession to assert authority over her swirling thoughts. Butterfly and Embryo recall the complexity of organic patterns that can be found within the human body and the natural world; seemingly delicate and transient, the compositions form a web in their detailed patterning, a forceful artistic net built of strength and endurance. She skillfully touches on themes that define all of our lives — fragility, strength, impermanence and resilience -- while attempting to find balance in her own thoughts.

The surreal-like dreamscapes of Kusama’s early works on paper are comprised of layers of watery hued gouaches and give the illusion that she is capturing a fleeting moment. Whether an embryo in the process of development or a butterfly flapping its wings as it prepares to take flight, Kusama emphasizes that nothing is ever really still – our thoughts, the inner workings of the body, the natural world. Capturing this in two-dimensional form is her attempt to find equilibrium and assert control. Kusama’s early works on paper are a prelude to what would become the pursuit of her artistic practice, to find peace between her two eternal and contradictory attitudes, the controlling aspect of repetition and the liberating effects of losing control.