(Ice artist Sarah) Blostein said the photos by Oakville, Ont., photographer Mervyn Sequeira sent the message of “strength and resilience” that she needed in the middle of “so much depressing news” to create a unique piece — an ice sculpture inspired by Sequeira’s images.

Blostein said that from the moment she came up with the idea for the ice art, she wanted it to be a two-person project, with an American sculpting the U.S.'s national bird. So Blostein enlisted her colleague, Riley Knaus, to complete the piece with her.

(Bolstein) arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, in January to volunteer at the World Ice Art Championships with only one three-day sculpting class under her belt. She participated in one contest, but it wasn’t until she was helping out with the children’s competition that she saw extra pieces of ice and thought to sculpt the goose.