From swapping ice swans for toilets to sculpting an entire set for runaway television hit Game of Thrones and spending time with film legend Quentin Tarantino, Mat Foster and his business partner Matt Chaloner have spent eight years running Glacial Art from its Aintree base. We catch up with Mat to discuss the art of ice sculpting.

How did you get in to ice sculpting?

Myself and my business partner, Matt Chaloner, met at university doing a special effects course. We then got a job studio where we were making props and puppets for TV ads. We did a few costumes as well. We did one for Angelina Jolie on the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow film and one for Colin Farrell on Alexander the Great and a couple of Harry Potter bits and bobs as well.

After that we set up our own company up north because there was nobody doing ice sculpting up here. There was a gap in the market and we’re both northern boys so that’s how we got into ice sculpting and how we ended up back in Liverpool.

What makes Glacial Art different?

In the past it’s been chefs working in restaurants who have started doing ice sculptures to go with big meals, buffets and banquets. Then they set up an ice sculpting business afterwards. We kind of came into it with the model making brains on us and that’s why a lot of our ice sculptures are unique. They’re basically models in ice rather than sculptures.

How has model making influenced the way you sculpt?

We’re still sculpting the ice but it’s the way we do it. We will make it in little pieces and fuse it together like a model rather than a lot of people, who will have one chunk of ice and carve something straight from it. It gives that hard-edge look, that really technical look that we can get.

What is the most challenging thing about sculpting in ice?

It’s constantly melting, being wet and slippery. It’s also really heavy, making it massively difficult to work with unless you’ve got the right tools, equipment and the processes of handling and lifting it. It’s all very difficult and you’ve got to learn on the job. When we set up I hadn’t really done any ice sculpting. It was Matt who had done it London and I’d helped him out a couple of times. When we were setting up here we made a swan and that was the first full ice sculpture I’d done. We’d just moved in to the unit and a builder was fitting the toilet. We were going to have pay him £200. He was going to a wedding a few weeks later so we swapped the swan for the toilet instead!

What do you specialise in?

At the beginning it was weddings, birthdays and things like that. In the last year we’ve had sculptures at the Cannes Film Festival and we’ve done ice bars on the roof of a hotel for Smirnoff. In October we did a set for Game of Thrones. We got a call from, well, we didn’t know what it was! We were told it was a TV programme and they made it sound like it was a children’s TV programme. It was only after we were signed up that we found out it was Game of Thrones and it was a whole set that they wanted building. It was our biggest sculpture to date and it was incredibly exciting. I’d read all the books before the series even came out so I’m a massive fan.

How difficult was the Game of Thrones work?

It was really hard, it was seven tonnes of ice shaped here in Liverpool then moved to Belfast. We had to get there at three in the morning to set it all up. It was just something you had to improvise. We had to make these things and get them into vans and over to Ireland. We managed and it went fantastically on the day of the shoot.

Which of your sculptures are you most proud of?

I think the Rolex watch one was great but I actually chopped the top of my finger off doing that one so it has a special place in my heart! The best one I’ve ever done is a dinosaur skeleton. The dinosaur took myself and Attila Olah, my apprentice, three days and it was about a ton and a half of ice.

Are there any other notable sculptures?

Myself and Mat got to hang out and go drinking with Quentin Tarantino for two nights when he came to premier ‘Death Proof’ at FACT. We did an ice sculpture for the after party and ended up being part of his entourage for two nights. He’s another massive hero of ours.

What’s next for you?

We’re not trying to expand, we’re just trying to get better jobs. It’s a reflection of my personality. It’s not about making money, it’s about being the best. We do competitions every year in Europe. We’ve been to Latvia for the last few years we’ve been winning. Every year we get a medal in one way or another and there’s nothing stopping us being the best in the world. We need to keep pushing ourselves, we want to go to Alaska next year for the world championships. It’s about getting better at what I do.

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