yayoi kusama unveils new infinity mirror room alongside 200 more works at NGV melbourne

yayoi kusama premieres infinity room at NGV melbourne

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne unveils a world-premiere of Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama as part of its landmark retrospective, on view from 15th December, 2024, to 21st April, 2025. The new infinity room, titled My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light (2024), represents the artist’s latest exploration of boundless visual realms through reflective surfaces. Transforming a gallery at NGV International, the installation envelops visitors in a spatial illusion of a celestial universe. The experience places visitors at the heart of Kusama’s artistic universe, bridging the gap between physical presence and the infinite.

The exhibition spans Kusama’s eight-decade career, showcasing 200 works, including ten immersive installations. Complementing the main exhibition, NGV’s Great Hall will host Dots Obsession, an installation of massive inflated spheres, while over 60 trees along St Kilda Road are already dressed in pink-and-white polka dots as part of Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees.

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA | image by Sean Fennessy

With My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light (2024) Yayoi Kusama invites the audience to immerse themselves in an environment where light and reflection converge. In this installation the Japanese artist uses mirrored space to create the illusion of an infinite celestial expanse. Points of light are orchestrated to generate a rhythmic interplay of brightness and shadow, encouraging viewers to reflect on their place within an endless cosmos. This latest work continues Kusama’s signature use of mirrors, introduced in her first mirrored environments in the 1960s, to dissolve spatial boundaries in her unique vision.

The NGV presentation marks the global debut of My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, adding a new chapter to Kusama’s celebrated series of infinity rooms. The exhibition also features the Australian premiere of Kusama’s monumental Dancing Pumpkin (2020), a 5-meter-tall yellow-and-black polka-dotted sculpture, and of The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe (2019), a towering installation of tentacular forms.

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024 on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA | image by Sean Fennessy

The premiere of My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light sits within NGV’s broader retrospective of Yayoi Kusama, one of the most celebrated contemporary artists, and spans eight decades of the artist’s multidisciplinary practice. With 200 works on display, this is the most comprehensive Kusama exhibition ever presented in Australia and one of the largest globally. Occupying the entire ground floor of NGV International, the exhibition traces Kusama’s journey from her early works in 1930s Japan to her avant-garde innovations in 1960s New York and beyond. Curated to highlight Kusama’s multidisciplinary reach, the exhibition places her infinity rooms in dialogue with her innovations in painting, sculpture, fashion, and performance art.

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA | image by Sean Fennessy

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA | image by Sean Fennessy

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA | image by Sean Fennessy

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room–My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024 – 21 April 2025 © YAYOI KUSAMA image by Sean Fennessy