It’s International Dot Day! We’re celebrating by finally sharing our Yayoi Kusama inspired Obliteration Room.  We spent weeks filling our “Dot House,” as it was affectionately called, with dots on dots.  Kids and adults of all ages came to the studio each week and left their mark and we couldn’t have been happier with the experience.  Thank you Yayoi Kusama!

Yayoi Kusama and her story served as great inspiration for everyone who learned about her.  I can see why her work resonates with so many people all over the world.  When I saw pictures of her first Obliteration Room I knew we could create a mini version for the studio.  I had a simple wood house built that could fold for storage.  We painted it white and pretty much the kids took over from there.

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We had a ton of precut felt circles on hand, in addition to tubs of glue and a table for making our our own dots.  Kids could paint them, draw on them, add stickers, you name it.  If it was a dot, it was free to go on our dot house.  We kept the  tubs of glue and brushes right inside the house so it was easy access at all times.

I think the most magical part of the house is how collaborative the whole experience was.  From toddlers, to mamas, to grandparents, everyone could get involved. Those are always my favorite art experiences and I sense that Yayoi might have had that in mind when she created the original Obliteration Room.  Such an inspiration.

If you want to try something like this I definitely recommend it.  You could of course go smaller and find a big cardboard box to dot.   And if you want to learn more about Yayoi Kusama I highly recommend these two books.  The first one is great for kids and shares Yayoi’s journey as an artist.  The second one has fantastic photos of Yayoi’s work.  It’s really exciting to see the Obliteration Room unfold.

From Here to Infinity

Give Me Love

We tried to extend the magic of the dot house as much as possible.  We hung cd’s on beads and added some pom pom garlands.  I think we kept it going for about two months and if we had the space, we would have kept it out longer. Right now the house is taking a hiatus and I hope to bring it back to life again soon.

In the meantime, thank you to all the friends that helped create and be a part of this magical space.  I hope you enjoy these photos.

If you decide to build your own Yayoi Kusama inspired “Dot House,” please tag us at mericherryla on Instagram.  We’d love to see and hear about your experience. And definitely check out Yayoi Kusama’s feed.  She is 89 years old and still as creative as ever.  Maybe even more so.  What an inspiration.  You’re never too young or too old to get creative.

Polka Dots are fabulous – Yayoi Kusama