B eautifully materialised in paradigmatic exuberant colour, Chii-Chan (2004) is one in a series of girl sculptures adorned with Yayoi Kusama's iconic dot pattern and ubiquitous infinity net motif. This body of work emanates from an intimate sent.mes nt whereby each figure has been named individually, ending with the Japanese affectionate suffix 'chan', usually used to refer to children, female family members and friends, following their first names. Exuding a sense of tenderness and childlike innocence, this exemplary series brings together a number of notable elements from the artist's psychedelic practice during the mid 1960's to the present. The red and black Infinity Nets motif in this edition is particularly rare, as it highlights one of Kusama's most popular colour palettes, as well as one of the most important and distinctive visual codes within contemporary art discourse. The artist once declared, "painting, which is powerful enough to wrap up the whole universe, not to mention the earth, is Kusama's Infinity Nets. I will probably continue to paint this endless web, which I have worked on for the past 40 years. Yayoi Kusama is unchangeable" (Yayoi Kusama, "Recent Oil Paintings", Ota Replica Handbags , 1998). Exhibited as part of the installation "Hi, Konnichiwa!"? at the KUSAMATRIX exhibition at the Mori Museum, Tokyo, in 2004,  Chii-Chan is a virtuosic and resplendent example of the artist's iconic dot and infinity net-covered motif imagined in sculptural form. 

The repetitive scheme of polka-dots in dazzling shades of blue, orange and green, along with the Infinity Nets patterning, can be seen in the form of mirrored installation, soft sculptures, and notorious performance works throughout Kusama's oeuvre, endlessly covering ready-made objects and performers. To describe this subsuming pattern, Kusama coined the phrase 'obliteration', with every available surface of the present work obliterated under Kusama's accumulated patterning. The concept of  "Self-obliteration" implies that in order to enter the 'infinite' universe, one must forgo their physical body and selfhood to become one with their surroundings and with nature. Aiming not at the annihilation of the self, the philosophy of self-obliteration is to blend in with the sublime of nature, to observe everything, and to realise how the self is finite, yet interconnected within an infinite universe. 

The obliterated figure of Chii-Chan is further reminiscent of the image of Kusama in her pioneering self-obliterating collages and happenings from the 1960's. Riding the wave from the burgeoning hippie culture, Kusama began to explore and stage live public performances across New York City. Most of them involved the artist painting groups of dancing young and nude performers under a visual spell of polka dots. Around the same t.mes she also began photographing herself wearing polka dot-ed outfits and standing with her works, an act that at once surrendered herself to her art. In the series of girl sculptures of the early 2000s, the permanent and self-manifesting power of the Infinity Nets and polka dots can be considered to have manifested itself in space, spreading the love and comfort of Kusama's most infamous bodies of work.  

《C hii-chan》（2004年）源自草間彌生的女孩雕塑之一，該系列體現了藝術家以活力充沛的繽紛色彩烘托其漫天漫地的圓點以及無限網的標誌性紋樣。草間親自為此系列每個雕塑取名，並在後加上通常用於稱呼兒童、女性家庭成員和朋友的日語親切後綴「ちゃん」（chan），彷彿跟它們有著親厚的感情。這些雕塑氣質溫柔，充滿童真，匯集了草間彌生部份從1960年代中期至今所使用，別具特色的迷幻風格元素。這個版本中的紅黑色無限網格紋尤其罕見，它是草間彌生最受歡迎的色彩組合之一，也是當代藝壇中舉足輕重的獨特視覺代碼之一。草間曾表示：「畫作足以包裹整個宇宙，更不用說地球了。這就是草間彌生的無限之網。我過去四十年一直努力繪製無限之網，我應該會繼續繪製它。草間彌生永恆不變。」（草間彌生，摘自《最近的油畫》，太田美術，1998年）。《Chii-chan》是2004年東京森美術館 KUSAMATRIX 展覽《Hi, Konnichiwa!》裝置藝術的一部份，以雕塑形式呈現了草間標誌性的圓點和無限網格紋飾，是藝術家的卓越技巧和華麗風采之典範展現。

在草間彌生的作品中，無論是鏡像裝置、軟雕塑或是臭名昭著的行為表演，都可見令人眩目，不斷重複的藍、橙和綠色圓點，與無限網交織共舞，彷彿可將所有物品和表演者完全覆蓋。草間以「消融」（obliteration）來形容這種圖案，其畫作中所有可用表面，都被這反覆出現的圖案佔據。「自我消融」的概念則意味著，為了進入「無限」的宇宙，人們必須放棄自己的肉體和自我，與周圍的環境以及大自然融為一體。但「自我消融」的目的不在於消滅自我，而是要融入壯麗的自然景色之中，觀察一切，並意識到自我的有限，與宇宙的無限之間的相互聯繫，以達到更高層次的境界。

《Chii-chan》的消融人物形象，讓人聯想起草間彌生創於1960年代，破天荒的自我消融拼貼和乍現表演。承嬉皮文化崛起，草間彌生開始在紐約市各個公眾場所進行現場表演。一群年輕的裸體表演者隨意舞動，而草間則在他們身上繪上圓點。與此同時，她也開始拍攝自己穿著點狀圖案服裝，並站在自己的作品旁邊的照片，此舉象徵她將自己完全融入其藝術當中。草間彌生透過創於千禧年代初的女孩雕塑系列，展示了無限網和圓點的永恆之美，以及其自我延伸的無限魅力。她成功地把曾經遭人詬病的創作轉化為流芳百世的傳奇，並將愛和溫馨愜意傳播開去。