Watch: Artist Transforms Plain Ice Block Into Detailed Cockatoo Bird

People who are creative amaze me. I think it’s so cool that while the rest of the world sees a blank canvas or a block of stone, artists can see an entire vision, then bring that same vision to life.

The same goes for people who are into ice carving. I’m impressed by how they’re able to carve such intricacies into a piece of ice, all before it melts! I mean, talk about a time crunch.

Photo: YouTube/Architectural Digest

But that is exactly what one ice sculptor does in his Long Island City studio located in Queens, New York.

Shintaro Okamoto was visited by Architectural Digest at his studio in order to get a closer look into his work, and it was incredible to watch as they captured him working on a 200 pound block of ice.

Photo: YouTube/Architectural Digest
Photo: YouTube/Architectural Digest

Okamoto was able to take something so plain and ordinary and turn it into a delicately detailed cockatoo bird. In the end, it looked quite like the real thing, only frozen. During his work he was even able to multitask and talk, giving the team a detailed explanation of each tool he uses, and what it does.

As the video states, “Step into the studio with master ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto and watch step by step as he wields picks, chisels, chainsaws and more in turning a 200-pound block of ice into a stunning cockatoo.”

Photo: YouTube/Architectural Digest
Photo: YouTube/Architectural Digest

Besides discussing people’s reactions towards his work. Okamoto also shared just how he feels about his art work eventually melting away.

As Okamoto states, “More than anything, it’s so rewarding to see the sculpture be experienced by people and see them be fascinated in such unfamiliar scale and level of details and then to see it melting away. It’s incredibly humbling. As it melts and, you know, deforms and disappears, that first impression stays in their memory.”

Check out the incredible video down below:

What do you think of Okamoto’s works of ice? Have you ever seen an ice sculpture up close? Let us know!

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