Yayoi Kusama's Retrospective Hits Tate Modern (VIDEO)

WATCH: Yayoi Kusama Interview

Yayoi Kusama turned her hallucinations into an obsession, and her obsession into unique creations of repeated forms. Throughout her life she has created dazzling drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, films and installations, all created with brutal honesty. The queen of the polka dots has become an icon for pop art and fashion. Yet at her core, the artist, living now in a mental hospital and constricted to a wheelchair, is an example of beauty and wonderment growing out of great fear and pain.

In honor of her retrospective at the Tate Modern, BBC News interviewed Kusama on her work and her life. Kusama glows in red polka dots, red lipstick and her signature red wig. Her words are gentle yet strong, honest and not quite of this world. Watch the video above to see Kusama share the stories behind her polka-dotted world.

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