An icy reception in Alaska

Concentration, 1st realistic, single block, by James Duggan and Eric Costic, USA

Concentration, in daylight

If you aren’t in Alaska now—and I mean right now—you aren’t likely to make it in time to see the 2016 World Ice Art Championships, which close Sunday in Fairbanks.

We were lucky enough to visit the displays in early March when the single-block entries were done and the multiple-block entries were still being sculpted. Our two weeks in Alaska (most of it as part of a Road Scholar program) included stays in Fairbanks and Coldfoot, a camp about 10-hours drive north of Fairbanks.

I’ve written a few posts about our activities, and it’s time to introduce the sculptures before they all melt and fall over—a few already had when we visited.

A beautiful noise, realistic, by Brian Connors and Jason Paul, USA

The competition, which is now sponsored by BP, began as a week-long event back in 1990. Now it lasts a full month and attracts more than 100 competitors and almost 50,000 visitors. I read that in 2014, 1500 tons of ice were use with most harvested from ponds near the ice park. It seems that two kinds of ice are harvested. One is crystal clear while the other is rather cloudy or opaque. Together they give sculptures a two-tone effect.

This year, competitors came from the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Croatia, Monaco, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Iceland and France. Hope I didn’t miss anyone.

We managed to visit three times—twice at night and once during the day. It’s amazing how different the sculptures look at different times of day. At night, all exhibits are lit with colour. I don’t know if colours are chosen by the artists or the organisers.

Joel Ratchford with Renewed Embodiment

We chatted to Joel Ratchford, one of the sculptors, and he said the event has grown so much that it’s getting hard for all the competitors to create their artworks. There are limited display places in the Alaska Ice Park and also limited electricity.

Sculptors use all manner of tools that can require power such as drills, blow torches, chain saws and more. Then there are the lights needed to work by—many artists were ‘chiselling’ away in the dark—and the lights needed for each display.

I have to comment that we saw light units, electrical cords and power boards all over the place.

Carol DeMar, USA, ice sculptor at work

The first time we visited was in daylight. The single-block sculptures were done and work on the multiple-block exhibits was just beginning.

I took pictures of almost everything. Some turned out better than others and I can now report on the results.

I didn’t manage to get good shots of all the winners (never mind), but I got decent shots of most of the ones I liked. Every category (in addition to single and multi-block, there were amateur and youth exhibits) included entries classed as abstract or realistic. Prizes were awarded to both.

Because I didn’t get pics of all the winners, you should visit the event’s comprehensive  website for more photos and details. I visited it tonight and found it really entertaining.

Coelacanth, by Junichi Nakamura and Jeff Moehlin, Japan and USA

As an aside, I would love to hear what sculptures you like best. Two of my favourites are above and below. I’m rather partial to the mysterious coelacanth (fish above) and especially love how the one below is lit.

P.S. I haven’t yet had a chance to download the pics of multiple-block sculptures (hey, we’re on the go), so will come back with a post on them. But if you’re looking for easier things to do with blocks of ice, why not try the Bloody Mary mix on my cooking blog. 🙂

Soul Collector, Artist’s Choice, realistic, by Chris Foltz and Heather Brice