Artists create 'absolutely stunning' sculptures in Ice District

An ice sculpture awaits judgement in Ice District during the Edmonton International Ice Carving Competition on Jan. 20, 2024. (John Hanson/CTV News Edmonton)

More than a dozen internationally recognized ice carvers have created frozen works of art in Ice District Plaza.

Competitors came across Canada and from the U.S, Iraq, France, Malaysia and the Philippines for Edmonton's International Ice Carving Competition.

The seven teams of two worked from Thursday to Saturday to turn their 15 blocks of ice into a winning sculpture for Chiseled, one of three international ice carving competitions in Canada.

Artists had 34 hours to stack and shape their blocks, which weighed 135 kilograms each. When finished, each sculpture will weigh 2,000 kilograms.

Saturday afternoon, they put their chisels and chainsaws down and awaited the judges decision.

"It's always frantic in a competition. You never have enough time, you never feel like you're finished, but it's wonderful," said competitor Cliff Vacheresse, one of two artists representing Edmonton.

"You get to see some absolutely stunning stuff over here today."

The winning submission, The Huntress, was carved by a team with members from Calgary and the Philippines.

Part of their prize is an invitation to be part of the Cultural Olympiad in 2026 at the Winter Olympics in Italy.

The sculptures will remain in Ice District Plaza until the end of February (or until warmer weather arrives). Edmontonians will have until Feb. 28 to cast their vote for the People's Choice Award.

"We're really fortunate to be here in the Ice District, because we can leave these sculptures up," Chiseled producer Jill Roszelle said. "So if we get a really long Chinook, they won't last, but they're pretty resilient."

Vacheresse said the fleeting nature of ice artwork is part of what makes it wonderful.

"It's great. I love it," he said. "You get to sculpt a lot quicker too than something like stone or wood, and so you get to create quickly and enjoy quickly.

It's gone quickly, and it's just kind of the way it is and we all do it because we love it."

Vacheresse and his teammate came in third.

This was the second year for Chiseled at Ice District Plaza. It was previously held as the Ice on Whyte Festival in Old Strathcona.