Japanese artist Yamamoto Motoi was born in Hiroshima in 1966, working in a dockyard until he was 22 when he decided to focus on art full-time.

When his younger sister died from complications due to brain cancer, Motoi immediately began to memorialize her in his labyrinthine installations of poured salt.

The artist draws with this white mineral, which flows from a small bottle like ink from a pen. In labyrinthine formations, the mineral is spread out on the ground.

The patterns formed from the salt are actually quite literal in that Motoi first created a three-dimensional brain as an exploration of his sister’s condition and subsequently wondered what would happen if the patterns and channels of the brain were then flattened.

Although he creates basic guidelines and conditions for each piece, the works are almost entirely improvised with mistakes and imperfections often left intact during hundreds of hours of meticulous pouring.

Countless bubble-like shapes are combined to form larger units, swirling organically, reminiscent of galaxies, or microscopic glimpses of structures invisible to the naked eye.

After each piece has been on view for several weeks the public is invited to communally destroy each work and help package the salt into bags and jars, after which it is thrown back into the ocean.

More of Yamamoto Motoi’s amazing art can be found at https://www.motoi-works.com/en/.

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