Nicole Dextras’ Giant Words Made of Ice Depict the Folly of Environmental Destruction

Environmental artist <a href="http://www.nicoledextras.com/index.php?/wordswinter/about-ice-typography/">Nicole Dextras</a> builds giant words made of ice in the heart of vulnerable and often cold landscapes. She does this by constructing wooden letter frames anywhere from 18 inches to 8 feet tall that she then fills with water and leaves outside to freeze. Two weeks later, once the words are solid, Dextras removes the frames and leaves her <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/okamoto-studio-carves-14-ice-sculptures-for-a-grace-ful-installation-in-midtown-manhattan/">frozen sculptures</a> at the sun's mercy. Eventually they melt - which she says subverts the power of the English language and commercial signage by depicting how vulnerable they are. Hit the jump to learn more about these incredible monuments of folly, which have been erected on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ontario">Lake Ontario</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_River">Yukon River</a>, and in downtown Toronto.

Nicole Dextras aims to subvert the power of the English language

The environmental artist creates giant words made of ice

The ice sculptures are then placed in vulnerable landscapes (it once seemed logical to cut down these amazing trees)

She fills wooden frames with water and allows them to freeze

Sometimes she adds a little food coloring

After 2 weeks, she removes the wooden frames

The resulting ice sculptures are then left to the sun's mercy

Usually it doesn't take long for the words to melt

These sculptures have been placed on the Yukon River, Lake Ontario, and this one is in downtown Toronto

It's amazing how something so vulnerable can also be so powerful

We especially love the city installations

The fragile ice juxtaposed against a "degraded" city wall makes such a powerful statement

The VIEW project on Lake Ontario took one month to complete