Meet the American artist who braves Finland’s subzero weather to paint portraits on massive floating ice slabs in the Baltic Sea.

29-year-old David Popa crafts the massive portraits by wading out to sea in frigid water and spray painting the top of massive pieces of ice with charcoal and soil using a spray can.

Because the ice floats would eventually sink or float away, each portrait in his ‘Fractured’ project had to be completed in roughly four hours.

Popa, who was born in New York but now calls Finland home, said that at first it took a significant paradigm shift for her to convince

herself that it was even feasible and safe. ‘Before starting on these, I actually practiced for two winters; it only functions at almost exactly zero degrees.’

He was able to finish his project this past winter because the circumstances were ideal.

To reach the floats he planned to paint, David waded through the chilly water while wearing a wetsuit.

Additionally, he had to carry all of his equipment through the icy water while everything was packed into watertight cases and included a drone.

The weather was ideal since it alternated between warmer and cooler days, which caused the ice to repeatedly freeze over and then fracture again, according to David.

David had to mark the ice and take a picture from above in order to plan them out, which reduced the amount of time he had on the ice and increased the time crunch.

It’s time to depart, he stated after marking the ice and taking the photo.

David sold roughly 100 copies of the pictures and six video NFTs, with the most expensive one going for little over $15,000 (£13,000). The series was very well received.

The artworks are referred to as ephemeral art since they are intended to exist only briefly before vanishing, save for those who purchased NFTs.

David’s decision to create his works using such a challenging material resulted from his passion of exploration and desire to get away from the stuffiness of the art world.

He attended Wenham College of Art in Massachusetts, although his interests lay more in trekking and exploration.

In art school, where he could practice on a graffiti wall, he fell in love with murals.

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