Interview With Winner of Winter Carnival Ice Sculpture Competition

On Tuesday, the Collis Center for Student Involvement announced that it had chosen the winner of the 2025 Winter Carnival Ice Sculpture Competition. The sculpture, which is currently displayed outside of Robinson Hall, is in the style of “post-surrealist hyper cubism,” according to its creator, junior Juniper Wisp ‘26.

The statue, named “Forbearance,” is in the shape of a “right rectangular parallelepiped,” Wisp explained. 

“I wanted to choose a shape that would be innovative – this is ice in no way we’ve ever seen it before,” said Wisp, who is from South Florida.  

Wisp explained that he was influenced by the principles of stoicism, which he “read about in a Substack post for my TMV distrib.”

“The harsh ninety degree angles reflect the cold, cruel sharpness of the world around us. It is full of temptation that can do us great harm. Yet the strong, smooth sides suggest a self-control of sorts, a restraint from the great evils.”

When asked how much time he had spent on “Forbearance,” Wisp said, “ages.”  

“Drawing up the plans alone took days. I spent countless hours in the Stacks, poring over advanced three-dimensional geometry literature, searching for the perfect parallelepiped to replicate. And the carving itself – the block they gave me was completely uneven. I had to fix three of the eight right angles. It was quite the feat.”

Modern art history professor Peter Klein said that the sculpture is “a marvel of political and social expression.”

“As the country moves in a more traditional, conservative direction, we’ve seen a rise in art that reflects rising political tensions. The right angles cleverly represent the right-wing state of the union and our descent into complete and utter fascism.”

Wisp said that his victory has inspired him to create more winter art. 

“I made a very detailed snow sculpture out on the golf course in the shape of an infinite polyhedron,” he said. “Although, for some reason, when I held it up to my friend he ran away and said I was going to ‘hit him with it.’”

A passing philistine, in a saddening display of a lack of cultural awareness, said he “didn’t get it.”

— CB ’26