While “a beauty queen wielding a chainsaw” sounds a bit like a plot line from a low-budget horror movie, it’s not that at all. It’s more like magic: magic that will be on view during San Diego Zoo’s Jungle Bells event. “When I was 18, I entered the Miss Ventura County pageant in the Miss America system, and I needed a talent,” ice carver Dominique Colell explained. “My dad suggested ice carving. I ended up doing it and winning.”

Now 29, with a bachelor’s in art and a master’s in education, Dominique has mastered the art of performance and carving. She’s even opened for a Hootie and the Blowfish concert. So be ready for the ice chips to fly at the Zoo’s Wegeforth Bowl. Dominique will have shows at 5:30 and 7 nightly during Jungle Bells, December 12 to 24, 26 to 30, and January 1 and 2.

During the shows she will be using one of her collection of 13 chain saws to whittle a 350-pound, 40-inch-tall, and 20-inch-wide (160-kilogram, 100-centimeter-tall, and 50-centimeter-wide) block of ice into an animal. She’ll complete the sculpture in less than 30 minutes.

“I think people will really love it,” Dominique said. “It is really a fun show. Dynamic and funny.”

Afterward, in some cases, the Zoo’s animals will have a chance to play with the sculptures as they melt. “I’m really looking forward to carving an elephant, because I want to see what they do with my ice sculpture,” she said.

Dominique grew up in Ventura County. Her father, a musician, and mother, an art teacher, always encouraged her to follow her passion. Although she was the first, and still the only, contestant to ever use ice carving as a talent in a Miss America run-up pageant, Dominique did not actually get to the Miss America contest. A tap dancer took the Miss California title.

Dominique now does about three or four series of shows a year, such as the one at the San Diego Zoo. But she spends more time focused on carving ice sculptures that are delivered at parties and events.
The challenges of performing are many: she has to carve the ice block before it melts, she has to constantly think about her body position, and the vibration of the tools is hard on her hands. “Sometimes, afterwards, I have to pry my hands open,” she said. “It is not a gentle art.”

But the beauty is undeniable – if only fleeting. “It is fourth-dimensional art because it incorporates the element of time,” Dominique said. “I don’t care if it melts. I take pictures of everything.”

Watch video of Dominique in action!

Dani Dodge Medlin is a public relations representative for the San Diego Zoo.

Posted in Default, General, The Zoo Journal | Link to this post

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.