ARTIST SPOTLIGHT #12: DON LOWING

artist spotlight Apr 20, 2016

 

 

Don says: My name is Don Lowing and I’m an artist based in Philadelphia. There are several mediums I work in: film, animation, graphics and also design which is the bread and butter for me and my family. But what has transcended for my entire career is sculpture, particularly sculpting ice. I have been sculpting ice for over 23 years now. I’ve traveled the world and to date have created over 35,000 sculptures which translates roughly to around 10 million pounds of ice -a lot of ice has passed through these hands.

 

It's been a unique journey so far which has given me the chance to travel, create the most challenging designs, and work the greatest sculptors in the world. These sculptors are like family as there are not many of us in the world and we all know, help and compete against each other. These are men and women with the same passion not just for the art, but also for the human connection and fascination of the medium, water.

 

There is a unique challenge of blending techniques and design to take water and turn it into something beautiful. There is a natural draw to the medium as an artist and also as a viewer because we all share the medium at a biological level. There is no other medium that I have found that has this connection. And the greatest moments happen when people interact with a piece, it naturally offers and invites you to touch and interact with the sculpture. This discovery and interaction lives with you forever, no matter where in the world I have been, someone wants to share a story of an amazing ice sculpture they encountered at some point in their life, maybe even 20 years ago and they can recite the experience in great detail. This is the moment I strive to achieve for anyone who encounters one of my pieces; I want the sculpture to connect with people. An ice sculpture is like music at a concert, it's an experience at a moment in time that you remember, you can't take it with you and the actual physical sculpture is gone the next day. It's gone.

 

The most common question I am asked is ”Is it real ice?”, and the second most asked question is “How do you feel when it melts away? All of that work is gone”. That's my favorite part of the medium, the sculpture goes away, back to nature and the experience is engraved in your head, you will remember this sculpture forever now. Not many things do that today, most people spend 40 to 60 hours a week working at their job and where is all of that work today? It's gone as well.

 

There are so many experiences to share like sculpting ice at the top of a mountain in Switzerland, competing in the world championships in Alaska, creating permanent ice lounges, sculpting the grand entrance at the ice hotel, celebrities, CEO's, big companies, little companies, under a bridge, teaching my daughter... that's the coolest one.

 

This has been a very different year for me personally and professionally. In 2015 I received a full scholarship for an accelerated Executive MBA. I have not really shared this with anyone up until now and I’ve kind of disappeared for a little bit, it's not a normal fit for me or many other artists. It’s been an uncomfortable change on many levels, it's intense and I have not been able to spend the time on my craft. I’m taking a short break from the creative and focusing on my mind. I’m drawn to the unknown, will jump in the fire and get way over my head to push the limits anytime to challenge myself. This is one of those moments; this is where the discovery of something new happens. For me, when you are not quite sure what the outcome is going to be and waaaay past the limit of comfort and control, that means I’m exactly where I want to be because no one else is here and something new is going to happen.

 

Get out there and do what you love, make people remember what you do.

Let's see what next year brings….

 

Facebook profile page: https://www.facebook.com/don.lowing?fref=photo

215.740.9300

donlowing.com

[email protected]

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Paint on!

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