The "Frozen in Fuchsia" botanical ice sculpture series was specifically created for a one day event at Hilton Hotel Sydney. The goal of this project was to create melting ice sculptures that transformed in front of the audience as the evening progressed.
‘Frozen in Fuchsia’ is confronting as such delicately sculpted floral artworks deliberately can only be experienced in a window of 8 hours before they completely melt away. How the sculpture is seen at the beginning of the installation compared to the end is vastly different and there is beauty to be appreciated in the early and also the final stages.
These sculptures are designed to be viewed through the transparent ice from all angles. The audience is encouraged to move around and lean in closer.
There is an important technical element involved in producing the clarity of the sculpture's form. Each of the floral elements in the ice has been sculpted and delicately woven by hand with wire so that all pieces are secured before being submerged in 0 degree water. We need to provide specific conditions for the flowers to be submerged. Water is pumped in constantly and from there it takes 5 days to freeze before they are cut off.
The challenge for this project was to ensure that each step of the process was perfectly timed. Each individual flower had to bloom at the peak of its life before being woven together and frozen. During installation, it was essential that the blocks had sufficient time to defrost on the surface to reveal crystal clarity by the time guests arrived.
