The watercolour depicts a singular cell-like being with subtle dots in the center floating

in a seemingly black abyss. The overall effect of the work is aggressive and bizarre, showing signs of Kusama's struggles with mental illness and anxiety towards sex. The Woman is one of the first works showcasing Kusama's decision to break away from the traditional Japanese artistic practices that she was taught and going a more western direction. In this case, her choice of doing abstract art (Davis, 2018).

 

From a tender age, Kusama experienced hallucinations in which a single pattern

would repeatedly show up. According to the artist herself, "one day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body, and the universe. I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness." (Davis, 2018).

 

Much like her thoughts, the depiction of a single cell against the vast background of

black gives a very strong contrast. The decision to draw red spikes surrounding the cell could be her feelings of anxiousness or anger as red is usually associated with those feelings. The cell-like figure could also represent herself. Some has also speculated the figure to look like female genitalia (Davis, 2018). This lines up with the theme due to the fact that as time passes, women have become more open to talking about their sexual thoughts, something that is usually unheard off and considered taboo especially in Asian countries.