Two friends took their spectacular sculptures from university house parties to Hollywood film sets.
Mat Chaloner, 43, and Mat Foster, 42, run Glacial Art Ice Sculptors in Aintree. The two have produced amazing ice designs for productions such as Game of Thrones and Knives Out: The Glass Onion.
The pair learnt their trade while studying a model making design course at university and went onto work in special effects in London. They became popular among friends for their hosting skills.
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Speaking to the ECHO, Mat Chaloner said: “When we were in London, because we were a hit skint but had cool jobs, we'd throw these parties with ice sculptors. We made an ice bar in our place. We continued it with Mat’s house parties on Halloween.”
After three years of working for firms and a year spent travelling, the pair relocated to Liverpool and set up their own firm. Demand continues to be high, with freelance artists helping the pair out as they travel across the world making amazing displays of not just ice, but pumpkins and fire too.
Mat said: “Last weekend, we were in Silverstone making an ice bar. Mat has been in Edinburgh doing work for Jack Daniels.”
“We do loads of winter festivals for councils. We make ice veils around city centres.”
The pair previously spoke to the ECHO about their work in 2016. The pair had recently been tasked with created a backdrop in Game of Thrones for a scene where the White Walkers turn an innocent baby into one of their evil followers.Glacial Art created an altar and ice “henge” as the backdrop for the scene.
Lockdown was naturally a tough time for the business, but a huge project came their way just before restrictions were lifted. Mat said: “During the lockdown, it was a bit weird. Everything was closed, but I used to bring the kids here to work on stuff.
“Right at the end I got flown out to Serbia for Knives Out. I was on set with Ed Norton and Daniel Craig. You’re seeing all these actors in the lunch queue with masks on, it’s mad.”
The firm built the Ice Knight for Netflix film Knives Out: The Glass Onion.. Mat was delighted to get their name in the credits. But it was only on screen briefly before being smashed up by a character in just one shot.
It may seem frustrating to work on spectacular sculptures which, by their nature, will be gone fairly quickly. But Mat sees it in a philosophical way.
He said: “It’s quite nice to work with these materials that go back to the earth quite quickly. For us, for me personally, it's all about getting the shot. As long as the client’s happy, whether it’s for advertising or a film, that’s what it’s all about.
“For Knives Out, it was on screen for a second. Then it was smashed.
“I was there for a week making this thing, moving it onto a crane on this massive site. But once they pushed it over, I had no emotional attachment at all.”
It was a similar story when the pair were asked by Warner Brothers to do something creative with a crop circle ahead of the album Crop Circle 2 by British rapper Nines. They came up with the idea of a fire display, creating the title of the album in flames.
Mat said: “We spent a week making it. We needed a team of 20 to arrive at the site to do it. And it only lasted for 10 minutes.”
Ahead of Halloween, the business has created stunning pumpkin carvings, a spooky coincidence since Mat Foster was born on October 31.
Looking back at over 15 years of business, Mat Chaloner is grateful he stumbled upon his close friend at university. The pair knew each other before university but had no idea they were studying at the same place until shortly before their course started.
He said: “It's weird. We've still got mates who went to university. A lot of them started out in arts but have drifted out into different jobs.
“Mat was a good friend but he didn't even knew he was moving to university - it was harder to stay in touch back then. It fell a bit by chance, but from them onwards, we've led relatively similar paths.
“It's nice working with a mate. We've got to work on some amazing projects but it's nice to have a small close knit team.”
Glacial Art Ice Sculptors is located at Unit 3A Nelsons Business Park on Long Lane in Aintree.
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