Artisit Motoi Yamamoto uses salt to design amazing intricate, and deeply personal, floor sculptures which he calls “his Labyrinths.”
His latest labyrinth seeps out from a brick tunnel at the Fondation Espace Ecureuil, a gallery in France. He creates the exhibition by sprinkling salt on the floor through a plastic bottle used for machine oil, starting at the back of the tunnel, then moving forward to avoid stepping on the designs he’s already created. To achieve this exhibition, it took 50 hours over the course of five days, using 2,200 pounds of salt.
To honor his sister’s memory, who died of brain cancer 10 years ago, Yamamoto began sketching with salt — a traditional symbol for purification and mourning in Japan. The intricate and endless patterns are meant to convey a sense of eternity.
Labyrinth, Fondation Espace Ecureuil pour l’art contemporain (Toulouse) in collaboration with Art Center, La Cuisine (Négrepelisse – Tarn et Garonne), France
