The childhood WW2 trauma that inspired Yoko Ono

The childhood WW2 trauma that inspired Yoko Ono Getty Images As a major retrospective of the conceptual artist's work opens, her son Sean Ono Lennon talks about her art – and her collaborations with his father, John Lennon. "You could say that the conceptual origins of her work started there in World War Two – being hungry and realising the power of imagination," says Ono Lennon, who runs her day-to-day affairs now that the artist has retired. "In my mother's case, she never necessarily felt that Fluxus represented her," says Ono Lennon, explaining that she preferred to work alone. Starving in World War Two and having to imagine meals for her crying little brother her to become a conceptual artist – Sean Ono Lennon Earlier in her career, Ono was particularly known for her "scores" or "instruction pieces", which initially began as an invitation for viewers to interact with her paintings but became artworks in themselves, instructing viewers to engage in or envision engaging in various activities.