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“Drawing a labyrinth with salt is like following a trace of my memory.
Memories seem to change and vanish as time goes by; however, what I seek is to capture a frozen moment
that cannot be attained through pictures or writings. What I look for at the end of the act of drawing
could be a feeling of touching a precious memory.”
- Motoi Yamamoto
This exhibition centers around a site-specific installation that the artist will create over the course of a week at The Mint Museum. Internationally renowned, Motoi Yamamoto is known for working with salt, often in the form of temporary, intricate, large-scale installations. Salt, a traditional symbol for purification and mourning in Japanese culture is used in funeral rituals and by sumo wrestlers before matches. It is frequently placed in small piles at the entrance to restaurants and other businesses to ward off evil spirits and to attract benevolent ones. Yamamoto forged a connection to the element while mourning the death of his twenty-four year old sister from brain cancer, and began to create art out of salt in an effort to preserve his memories of her. His art radiates an intense beauty and tranquility, but also conveys something ineffable, painful, and endless. This exhibition was organized by the Halsey Institute, College of Charleston.
Born in Onomichi, Hiroshima in 1966, Yamamoto received his BA from Kanazawa College of Art in 1995. He has exhibited his award-winning creations around the globe in such cities as Athens, Cologne, Jerusalem, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toulouse. In 2002, he was awarded the Philip Morris Art Award as well as the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2003. In 2006, Yamamoto was one of six featured artists in Force of Nature, a collaborative exhibition involving cultural institutions in North and South Carolina. The exhibition Return to the Sea premiered at Spoleto USA in Charleston, SC in 2012.
Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto is presented to the community with generous support from Sapporo USA Inc. and Tryon Distributing. The exhibition is organized by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts.
A time lapse of the creation and destruction of Motoi's Floating Garden at Mint Museum Uptown. Added 5/30/2013.
