Within weeks of the release of this documentary to DVD, Yayoi Kusama will have turned 90. Widely recognised as one of the most important, influential, and commercially successful living artists, she draws audiences like no other: her art has critical and mass appeal.

Kusama: Infinity reveals the degree of her influence. She shaped and contributed to important social dialogue, and ideas considered radical in their time were explored and exhibited by Kusama before they ever emerged in the practices of those historically hallmarked as their originators. Presenting Kusama’s direct influence on artists including Oldenburg, Samaras, and Warhol is one of the many ways this documentary unpacks her incredible creative and imaginative force. In doing so, it doesn’t take away from the work and artistic contributions of these people. It does, however, very clearly and painfully demonstrate that being both Japanese and a woman – sociocultural identifiers now used to positively demarcate her achievements – often made it more difficult for Kusama to carve her place in the art world.

The deep sadness of the documentary is the impact of this on the wellbeing of Yayoi Kusama. She suffered through severe and debilitating mental health crises. Despite the severity of her ongoing struggles with mental health, she has never stopped making work. As engaging and stimulating as Kusama: Infinity is, it is also truly moving. Her impressive and prolific body of work is both intimate and universal in figurative, literal and often experiential ways. As her work dissolves grand binaries (the parts and the whole articulating the microcosm and the macrocosm, or how the journey outward is often equally an inward reflection), Kusama has also contributed to challenging and breaking down so many other kinds of boundaries and binaries – at no small cost to herself.

Happy birthday Yayoi! We thank you and love you – ad inifinitum.

Leanne Hermosilla works as a bookseller at Readings Carlton.