A Requiem in Salt: Japanese Artist Yamamoto Motoi

Yamamoto Motoi  Born in 1966 in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. Graduated from Kanazawa College of Art in 1995. Currently resides in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Creates art installations using salt, which in Japan is considered to have purifying qualities. Has held exhibitions in Japan and abroad, including at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, the Setouchi Triennale, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and St. Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, Austria.

Yamamoto’s work Rurui no Ryū.

Yamamoto created his 2015 work Floating Garden inside the medieval French castle Aigues-Mortes. (© Yamamoto Motoi)

His 2013 work Labyrinth at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art museum. (© Yamamoto Motoi)

The 2003 salt staircase Utsusemi at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. (© Yamamoto Motoi)

Yamamoto relies on the natural rhythm of his body to create his artworks.

Yamamoto took special precautions while working on Ruri no Ryū.

Yamamoto’s daughter Yūno helps prepare salt for an exhibit.

In Onomichi, Father and daughter return salt to the Seto Inland Sea.