About the Artist
International artist and sculptor K.A. Colorado has spent the last two decades working in various climatic conditions throughout the world, using ice and snow as both a medium and a subject.
From working in Antarctica and the Patagonia ice fields, to creating snow sculpture in Valois, France, to imbedding one of his "Kyoto Protocol" Ice Core Sculptures in the cauldron of a volcano in South America, K.A. Colorado has performed art applications all around the globe, and created art that has dealt with the global conditions associated with climate change.
His artwork has taken him atop precarious icebergs, alongside rugged mountains in alpine regions, and into the hot desert. He has fabricated steel pyramids in Culiacan, Mexico, carved monumental stone in the Czech Republic, and created the first-ever kinetic snow sculpture which was unveiled in Perm, Russia near the Ural Mountains.
Invited by the Arctic Scientific Research Library at CADIC-CONICET in Ushuaia, Argentina, at the Tierra Del Fuego, by noted geologist and glaciologist Dr. Jorge Rabassa, K.A. Colorado has studied and visually captured icebergs in his paintings and sculptures to depict the changing glacial conditions in the Antarctic.
As the only artist invited among a group of renowned scientists and climatologists from around the world, K.A. Colorado participated in the International Conference on Hydrometeorological Security held in Moscow, Russia in September 2006. His paper on Aesthetic Considerations and Implications of Snow Mass and Texture Changes was published and posted at the Conference, which was attended by climatologists and geologists whose areas of expertise include the Polar and Arctic regions.
K.A. Colorado is the creator of the Ice Core Sculpture Series featuring ice core sampling replicas imbedded with scientific writings, professional text, geologic material, and animal DNA from throughout the world. His several series of Ice Cores feature international dialogue on climate involving such notable individuals and experts as Dr. James E. Hansen of NASA (U.S.A.); Dr. Jorge Rabassa of CADIC-CONICET (Argentina); Dr. Alexander A. Vasiliev of the Hydrometeorological Center in Moscow (Russia); Dr. James P. Delgado of the Vancouver Maritime Museum (Canada) and NOAA (U.S.A.); Dr. John J. Clague of Simon Fraser University (Canada); Neil J. Weenink, Engineer and Lecturer (Australia); Lynne Cox, Arctic and Antarctic long-distance swimmer (U.S.A.); Col. Ron Smith, former commander of the U.S. Scientific Base in Antarctica (U.S.A.); and Morteza Anoushiravani, Director of Global Water Resources for the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps.
Invited to exhibit and speak worldwide, K.A. Colorado has exhibited his artwork in Vancouver, B.C., Canada; Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.; St. Petersburg, Russia; Moscow, Russia; Lima, Peru; Barcelona, Spain; Toronto, Canada; and St. Moritz, Switzerland. His recent exhibitions include "The Cow on the Iceberg" series of paintings, sculptures, and lectures at the West Vancouver Library in Canada; a TED talk and art exhibition at the TED Conference in Monterey, California; the Earth Art Show international exhibition curated by K.A. Colorado in Troutdale, Oregon; and a solo exhibition entitled "Polar Dialogue 2009" at the LA Artcore contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, California. He has also created historical murals on permanent exhibition at educational and institutional sites in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
K.A. Colorado's international projects linking countries with the global scientific and arts communities regarding climate and environmental concerns include: The Pemberton / Mount Meager land slide geological event field study, August 2010, in conjunction with the Simon Fraser University of Vancouver, Canada; The Castle Canet-en-Roussillon Ice Core Project, May 2010, in conjunction with Canet, France; and the Volcano Ice Core project in several corresponding countries, including Chile, Argentina, and Africa.
K.A. Colorado has organized and judged international snow competitions throughout the world, and founded the Winter Arts Festival and Ice and Snow Competition in Perm, Russia (Western Siberia) in 1995, an annual event that continues today. Over the past decade, he has traveled to the Antarctic, where he has been invited by the Arctic Scientific Research Library to continue his work in depicting ice and icebergs in his art.
K.A. Colorado was the recipient of the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Museum LA Artcore Award in 2008 as "Artist of the Year" in recognition of his prolific work in climate and environment-themed art. In 2010, K.A. Colorado was selected as speaker and presenter at the TED Conference in Monterey, California. As an international artist, K.A. Colorado's work has joined science and art together aesthetically, conceptually, and intellectually, and continues to explore the historical and human ramifications of our changing climate and environment.