Yayoi Kusama // AirMail - Accumulation, 1963

  • Yayoi Kusama, Airmail–Accumulation, 1963. Stamps on paper, 23.5 × 30.8 cm. Early work from the Accumulation series, signed, titled, and dated on the reverse.
    Airmail–Accumulation, 1963
    Stamps on paper, 23.5 × 30.8 cm (9¼ × 12 1/8 in.)
    © Yayoi Kusama. Image reproduced for educational and informational purposes only. 

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    Created in 1963, Airmail–Accumulation is a small-scale work on paper measuring 23.5 × 30.8 cm. Kusama employed postage stamps as her primary material, methodically arranging them across the sheet to form rhythmic, repeated patterns. This use of everyday objects reflects her experimental approach during the early 1960s, when she was developing new ways of translating repetition into visual structure.

     

    Signed, titled, and dated on the reverse, the work demonstrates her meticulous documentation of authorship and her conceptual interest in transforming the ordinary into immersive compositions. It forms part of her broader Accumulation series, a key body of work that played a central role in defining her practice during this period.

  • "Accumulation is repetition, and my life is one of repetition. Repetition is my obsession.”

    – Yayoi Kusama

    The work consists of a grid-like layering of airmail stamps, their standardised forms multiplied to create a dense surface. This approach extends the logic of Kusama’s Infinity Nets, replacing painted marks with physical objects to achieve a similar sense of endless expansion. The use of common materials emphasises her ability to merge fine art with the ordinary, a method that aligned her practice with contemporary currents in New York such as Pop and Minimalism. Though modest in size, the work illustrates her conceptual drive to build meaning through serial repetition.