I just got back of 2 hours of jaw-dropped-mouth-breathing. The world ice carving competition is being held in Fairbanks. This is its 25 year and brings a wide swath of international artists. The competition offers categories for professional and novice carvers in a variety of categories including “abstract”, “realistic”, and more. They are also categorized by block size including single block and multi-block. Ice is harvested from the lake adjacent to “Ice Park” and is renowned for its clarity. It looks like glass!! There are no air bubbles in it.

The visions of the artists are truly incredible and I can probably say that I have NEVER enjoyed art as much I did tonight. I hope you enjoy! Lots of pictures, and not much writing for this one :).

For information you can check here : http://www.icealaska.com/en/

SINGLE BLOCK

These single block sculptures are carved from a large block of ice. The carvers can dice up the block however they want, but they only get one! The blocks are not small, and result in sculptures that average 7 feet or so. However, they were some over 10 feet!

Here’s a gallery of many of the single-block entries. In this case the pictures do not do them justice, truly incredible! (The images here are in a gallery, so clicking any of them will enlarge them and allow you to easily go through each of them. )

Gargoyle. AHHH!

A sea otter fighting over the skeleton of another sea otter for a fish which is half flesh and half bone. WOW! The biologist in me likes this a lot!

A crazy spartan spikey chain dude.

Venus Fly Trap! See the bug??!

“The carnival” was a 1st place abstract winner

Lynx and Hares

Tlingit Seahawk

“Progression”

A fairy riding a snail.

Humpbacks

The sculpture for this man was cut in half and the veins were etched out of the inside and then he was glued back together!

Bear

A Virus!

The Wizard

This single block one the 1st place in the ‘realistic’ category. Two acrobats, and look at those rings!!!!!

Gargoyle

This woman running through the wall was a very cool concept.

Dolpin

Large African fish, can’t remember the name.

Dragons

Born to be wild! Evil Kineval

Angel

This single block one the 1st place in the ‘realistic’ category. Two acrobats, and look at those rings!!!!!

MULTI-BLOCK

The multi-block sculptures were HUGE. Some of them were 12 feet tall or more and some were 12 feet around or more. These were all roped off, so perspective was a bit hard, but they are a sight to behold!!

Abstract winner for multi-block. The ice ‘appendages’ are 6 feet long or more. I’m not sure how they even did that!

Cossack riders.

This sculpture over the bridge is cool in its contrast with the frosty men crossing it.

“The Trophy Room”

I really do not know how they pulled this off. The 360 degree curls are incredible. The hoop (sun) she is holding is only about 3/4 of an inch thick at it’s narrowest point. That’s incredible precision!

Fairies. This sculpture won the multi-block. But I can’t remember which category.

Two dancers in a crystal ball room.

Dragon

Dragons assaulting a castle. This sculpture is well over 12 feet tall!

Poseidon.

This sculpture is my personal favorite. The letters streaming out of the book of the boy are individuals! They are all cut out. The left is an Annubis Jackal and the right is a dragon. WOW!!

There is more carving categories this week and the location is open through the end of March, so you may see more Ice Carving pictures in the future!