Venus de Milo snow sculpture turning heads in Selkirk
Sculptor from Iran carves life-size snowy creation in front yard
A Manitoba snow sculptor's latest creation is turning heads in Selkirk.
Kermani first started toying around with sand sculptures. Once he moved to Manitoba, Kermani realized sand was too soft a material for the climate half of the year. That led him to snow.
He considers it a great thing that it's cold enough to work with snow half of the year.
"You can pause as much as you want and then just carve it. With sand there's lots of limitations," he said.
"The good thing about sand is when the weather is very good you don't have to wear lots of clothes or cover your face. With snow, carving is better and easier, but you have to deal with the freezing toes and freezing nose."
This year, Kermani created his best imitation of the famous Venus de Milo sculpture.
"I believe this is the most beautiful sculpture in the world," he said.
Kermani made the sculpture in clay three times, gradually increasing the size of the figure with each attempt. Then he moved onto snow.
"This one I said, lets try it with snow, life size," he said.
The current sculpture, which sits on Kermani's lawn on Strathnaver Avenue, is made to scale and measures in at over two metres tall.
It has been a big hit online and with the neighbours, Kermani said.
"They stop by talking to me and encourage me to do more," he said.
Kermani posted the first photos of the sculpture on Facebook Monday night. As of Tuesday afternoon, the post on his personal profile had garnered about 430 likes and almost 20 shares.
"I like doing this, I enjoy sculpting. If I have nothing to do, I can sculpt 24 hours a day," he said.
"It depends on how picky you are. You can spend hours and hours in –20 C and see you're not happy with the result."
Kermani said he just hopes the cold weather holds. His most hated part of the hobby comes at the tail end of winter when things start to thaw — and melt.
"That's my worst nightmare. Probably I am the only one who doesn't like warm weather," Kermani said.
Last winter, Kermani made a sculpture in the same place and after just five days the temperature rose to 5 C and it started melting.
"I was melting myself and I said, 'Why does this happen?!' This usually doesn't happen in January," he said.
He's been getting requests from neighbours to create snowy art in their yards now, too. For now, it will remain a hobby and not a business, he said.
Kermani plans to take a stab at another world-renowned sculpture next year: Auguste Rodin's, The Thinker.