Sculptors use 27 tons of snow to create massive embryo

By Jake Meeus-Jones via SWNS

Two British snow sculptor used 27 tons of the stuff to create a massive embryo.

Martin Sharp, 47, and Justin Scott, 52, spent four days creating the hollowed-out sculpture at the 21st International Snow Sculpting Competition in Nayoro, Japan.

The city is famous for having the best snow in Japan and temperatures which drop as low as -30C.

The team - who previously recreated Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards' ski jump in snow - was assisted by Martin’s wife Sarah, AGE, for the competition which took place from 5th-10th of February.

Tree surgeon Justin designed the sculpture which was hollowed out to allow light to pass through - representing the idea of life and light coming from darkness, he said.

The concept is based on inyo - the Japanese equivalent of yin yang which symbolizes positive and negative energies existing together.

One side of the sculpture represented the human side with softer more round edges to symbolize people, they said.

Whereas the other half of the sculpture featured sharper edges more rectangular edges to represent technology and AI.

And despite not winning - with the prize going to the Korean team who carved a dragon - Martin says the experience has been "fantastic."

Dad-of-three Martin, an IT consultant and fitness instructor, from York, said: "It's been fantastic.

"Everything's been laid on for us and it's been amazing.

"The silky snow in Nayoro is the highest quality snow you will get anywhere in the world.

"It's a really fine powdery snow which meant it's combined really well.

"The sculpture took four days but we finished earlier on day three really.

"The first three days was about moving a lot of the snow and we estimate the entire sculpture was about 27 tonnes of snow.

"We also wanted to make it interactive so people could go inside and experience it as it's a message about the future really."

The pair tested out their design in miniature and made with wax before trying it out in snow.

Martin said: "The design was all to do with light and life so we called it inyo.

"Inyo is the Japanese equivalent of yin and yang but we also wanted it to represent that there's a darkness with everyone in life itself but also a great light.

"It's built round an embryo with one side representing the fetus which is new life and and then the light passing through the sculpture so we had to have it lined up with the sun so light could shine through to the other side which is about AI.

"For four days the local children got to look at all the sculptures and the army created some toboggan slides for them.

"Most of the other sculptures they couldn't touch or go near but it was fantastic that ours could be interactive."

As a final act to truly represent what their sculpture was about, Justin decided to strip off and curl up into a ball in the middle of the sculpture.