Japanese Artist Creates 100,000 Fallen Cherry Blossom Petals From Salt

Photograph: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Propelled by valuable recollections of loved types misplaced, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto makes in get to maintain and cherish those sacred remembrances also frequently neglected with time. Best acknowledged for his painstakingly crafted salt installations which he often designs into labyrinthine designs, the artist has just lately completed a piece for a solo exhibition at the Setouchi Town Museum of Art titled Sakura Shibefuru. In this most recent installation, Yamamoto crafted about 100,000 fallen cherry blossom petals out of salt.

The remarkable set up is also shown together with two-dimensional operates created before in the artist’s occupation, which he considers to be the starting off issue of his get the job done. “The surface of the perform that I first drew immediately after my sister died of a brain tumor at a youthful age is also on exhibit in this exhibition,” Yamamoto tells My Present day Met. “Since this was an endeavor to engrave into my coronary heart the second when an vital existence ceased to exist, I still left the patina rising on the copper as it was. This development can be noticed as the origin of my work… I have ongoing generating my is effective for numerous several years so that I will not forget my recollections of beloved types.

“These creations are units to ward towards the self-defense intuition of oblivion and are like a practice that has taken root to keep reminiscences that are shed above time. I have develop into interested in previous situations these as reminiscences and memories. Having said that, when my spouse died of sickness four yrs back, my everyday living by itself with my daughter commenced, and I turned much far more mindful of her future—in other phrases, what was still to come—and a change began to happen in the way in which I approached my do the job.”

Photograph: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Just as crucial as the installation’s concept is the artist’s chosen medium: salt. In Japanese culture, salt has been equated with cleansing considering that historical situations. And in numerous other cultures all over the planet, the crystalline mineral is employed in rites and rituals associated to existence and death. It is also important to preserve everyday living and forms an critical part of the human diet program that everyone has professional or tasted at some point. For Yamamoto, this suggests that any person can sort a relationship with his works via own memories tied to the material and shape their personal that means or interpretation from it.

“The principal purpose that I keep on to use salt is since of its beautiful whiteness,” Yamamoto reveals. “Since salt is a colorless, transparent crystal, it has a somewhat clear high quality when viewed from up close, and it is almost as if this delicate whiteness is gently getting the contents of my coronary heart. I also use salt because it is a complicated medium to manage and effects in pretty fragile operates. Salt does not bond collectively, so it breaks aside promptly when touched and dissolves when affected by humidity. These qualities are a adverse issue in terms of maintaining and guarding the get the job done, but this instability constantly reminds me that all issues are topic to change and that lifestyle is finite.”

Photograph: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

“At the end of an exhibition,” he continues, “we undertake the undertaking of returning the salt to the sea. This essentially entails working collectively with the viewers to damage the get the job done and return the salt to the sea. But what I like about the process is that I only use this purely natural medium for a fleeting minute in my work right before returning it to its spot in nature. This project allows me to expertise how my everyday living in this environment is a mere second in the prolonged, lengthy passage of time.”

Similar to that concept, cherry blossoms also signify the transient mother nature of lifestyle. The term “sakurashibe-furu”—which the exhibition can take its title from—translates to “falling cherry stamens” and is a seasonal Japanese word utilized in haiku to signify late spring. In truth, these fallen buds denote the end of the flower year but also foreshadow the coming freshness and greenery of spring and midsummer. “While considering about the foreseeable future of the buds,” Yamamoto explains, “I designed petals that experienced just fallen, piling the petals while thinking about the trees that manufactured these beautiful bouquets with their thick trunks, supple branches, and potent roots.”

The diligent and affected person artist admits, “I retain generating is effective to solve my personal problems, but I hope that they give viewers with an possibility for contemplation whilst using in the various settings and surroundings of the is effective. A lot of people who, like me, have shed a beloved just one can truly feel anything from the works… I hope that this get the job done will deliver an prospect to look into the potential though reflecting back again on cherished recollections.”

Sakura Shibefuru opened at the Setouchi City Art Museum in Okayama, Japan on March 9 and will be on screen until eventually Might 5, 2021. The artist will be producing his up coming huge-scale set up titled LABYRINTH for the Oku-Noto Triennale 2020+ this drop. To preserve up to date with Yamamoto’s most up-to-date work, check out the artist’s web page and follow him on Instagram.

Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto created around 100,000 fallen cherry blossom petals out of salt for his hottest set up titled Sakura Shibefuru.

Picture: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Image: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Picture: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

The salt set up is displayed along with two-dimensional is effective from before in the artist’s career that he considers the beginning point of all his work.

Image: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Picture: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Yamamoto created these salt petals to signify the transience of life and to motivate viewers to reflect again on precious memories whilst also searching forward in direction of the upcoming.

Image: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

Photo: © Motoi Yamamoto 2021

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My Modern Achieved granted permission to aspect shots by Motoi Yamamoto.

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