{"id":261178,"date":"2026-01-31T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/261178\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:39:10","slug":"from-front-yard-practice-to-international-competition-london-sculptor-heads-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/261178\/","title":{"rendered":"From front-yard practice to international competition: London sculptor heads north"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

What began as a front-yard experiment is now taking a London, Ont., sculptor to a global snow carving stage in Yellowknife. <\/p>\n

Graham Henning has kept busy during recent snow storms, transforming the shape of built up snow and carving it into the unexpected. Each day, details appear where there were none before, edges are refined and textures emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you drive by it, it might look like just a mound of snow,\u201d said Graham Henning \u201cunless you kind of slow down and take a look and think for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

The London-based sculptor is using his front yard as a practice space ahead of the Snowkings’ Winter Festival in Yellowknife, where his sculpture Snow popcorn will be displayed alongside snow sculptures by artists from across the world for the International Snow Carving Symposium.<\/p>\n

The festival runs through March and includes an international snow carving symposium, which brings teams from around the world to create large-scale sculptures over several days.<\/p>\n

Hands-on experiences<\/p>\n

Henning\u2019s interest in making things began early.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had an interest in art, sculpture and building things with my hands,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it was building tree forts or whatever when I was a kid, doing the sculpture was kind of like a next level of building things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PortraitGraham Henning, a London-based sculptor, says his interest in building and making things by hand began early and has shaped his return to art. (Josiane N’tchoreret-Mbiamany\/CBC)<\/p>\n

He studied art at Beal Secondary School in London and later the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, before taking a different path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up making a lot of sculptures in school, and then not really knowing if I wanted to do that as a career, and ended up doing construction,\u201d Henning said.<\/p>\n

More recently, Henning has found his way back to sculpting, fitting it into a life shaped by practical work and competing demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our society, so many of us are chasing money,\u201d he said. \u201cBut nourishing your other interests is really satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

That mindset has led him to a new opportunity far from his London home, especially after he learned about the Snowkings’ Winter Festival through a former art school classmate.<\/p>\n

Henning is excited about the competition not only for himself, but for what it could represent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of being from London,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had a great art scene that\u2019s a little bit underground and not maybe quite as showcased as, you know, bigger centres like Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the symposium, artists are asked to submit a proposed design. Their idea centers on a single, playful form: a kernel of popcorn.<\/p>\n

\"AA model of Henning\u2019s proposed popcorn kernel sculpture, left, sits beside the snow version taking shape in his front yard. (Josiane N’tchoreret-Mbiamany\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the inspirations was you\u2019re at the movie theatre in the winter in Canada, and you see a big pile of snow,\u201d Henning said. \u201cThe material is similar in look, and the uniqueness of the popcorn kernel and the uniqueness of snowflakes just really made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snow is a new medium for Henning, one that has challenged him while also allowing him to experiment freely as he prepares for the northern competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an easy material to carve,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can make mistakes, it\u2019s not expensive and it\u2019s not hard to carve.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Henning carves and shapes the snow over time, weather conditions cause it to compact and refreeze, giving the sculpture more strength than its surface suggests.<\/p>\n

The opportunity and learning process have been as meaningful as the destination, he said. <\/p>\n

“When you chase these things [it] give you energy and give you inspiration,” Henning said. “I’m very slowly developing a little bit of a body of work, and that feels good.” <\/p>\n

Henning will take what he has learned at home to the north from at the festival and the International Snow Carving Symposium from March 5 to 8 in Yellowknife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-261178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}