Shintaro Okamoto carves Buddhas, sneakers and swans from Long Island City studio

Shintaro Okamoto, 51, operates Okamoto Studio in Long Island City, where he carves ice sculptures ranging from Buddhas and swans to branded displays and custom cocktail ice, working with the acceptance that the material is fleeting. Mr. Okamoto began the New York business with his father in 2003; one early client was a TriBeCa Japanese restaurant that wanted a fresh ice Buddha daily, and he estimates they made about 2,500 of them over several years.

He was born in Fukuoka, grew up in Anchorage where his father, Takeo, ran a restaurant, and later left Alaska for art school, earning a master’s degree in fine arts before launching the studio with his parents’ help. Last year he carved displays for the New York Rangers, a slipper for Disney’s 75th anniversary of Cinderella and an Air Force 1 sneaker for a shoe distributor.

The studio is a working warehouse with power tools, drains, a large walk-in freezer and eight machines that freeze 40-gallon blocks measuring 40 by 20 by 10 inches and weighing about 275 pounds. The machines circulate water to freeze blocks from the bottom up, producing dense, crystal-clear ice; Mr.

Okamoto transfers a grid drawing onto the block, lightly carves the sketch and refines forms by hand, with most carving done on the warehouse floor. While some equipment can automate parts of the process, Mr. Okamoto says the technical craft is largely passed down between generations and he now teaches new carvers, some of whom have started their own ventures.

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Culture, Shintaro Okamoto, Okamoto Studio, Long Island City, New York Rangers, Disney