Artist Motoi Yamamoto's latest installation is titled さくらしべふる (Sakura Shibefuru), which is a seasonal term of late spring, often used in haiku to describing the time when the flowering season is over and people have lost interest in the cherry blossoms. Beginning in the center of the room and working outwards, Yamamoto spent hour after hour carefully sculpting individual cherry blossoms from salt. “By sitting on the floor and spending long hours drawing, perhaps I am trying to retain memories that fade with time,” says the artist.

He created the work as a tribute to family he's lost, with ties to a traditional Shinto ritual. Learn more about this incredible and meaningful artwork by visiting Spoon & Tamago below.