Artist Carves Intricate Cockatoo Sculpture Out of Ice

Architectural Digest visited with master artist Shintaro Okamoto at his Long Island City studio in Queens, New York, where he carved an intricate and beautiful cockatoo bird sculpture out of a 200-pound slab of ice. As he was working, Okamoto explained the purpose of each tool and how he used it.

tep 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.

Okamoto also talked about how people respond to his sculptures and how he feels when they melt away.

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.

Carving An Intricate Ice Sculpture

Here is more of Shintaro Okamoto’s incredible work.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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