DEAD ICE (2014)

Mixed media, aqua resin, eco epoxy, and recycled material.
24′ × 11′ × 7′

Dead ice as a scientific term refers to the ice shed by a “living glacier” and no longer part of it, sitting motionless, with its fate to thaw into the ocean. Blane De St. Croix’s Dead Ice is a monumental sculpture that explores the ideas of failed human exploration and the never-ending battle between humans and the environment. The language of landscape generally owned by the painting genre transcends here into a painting/sculpture hybrid.

Depicted are two distinct sides dividing the gallery space in half and behaving as a sort of border, one side human, one side the natural world. The natural or glacier side of the sculpture depicts an interpretation of Arctic dead ice and is made through an elaborate process of painting, layering and sanding a variety of ecologically friendlier and recycled materials. The man-made or vessel side of the sculpture serves as a fragmented ghostly artifact of the Arctic—both sides negatively affecting the other in humankind’s endless attempts to conquer, but certainly a battle with nature prevailing in the end.

Collage works and photographic documentation in support of the project can be viewed in the respective sections.

Photo credit: Etienne Frossard