Kate Hrynko's Sublimation Art Explores Climate Change Through Ephemeral Ice Works

Kate Hrynko, an artist known for her transient creations, utilizes paint on ice and captures the remnants following sublimation, where ice shifts directly into gas. Her project, Faded Ice, has been nominated for the Aesthetica Emerging Art Prize 2025. By blending photography with painting, Hrynko produces abstract pieces that highlight climate change, particularly focusing on albedo loss, which exacerbates global warming. She experiments in both home freezers and natural environments, employing frost-free freezers to facilitate sublimation. Influenced by artists like Vincent van Gogh and Cy Twombly, Hrynko’s method involves multiple cycles of freezing and thawing with paint, using tools such as knives and hammers for layered effects. The Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2025 is on display at York Art Gallery until 25 January 2025, featuring a £10,000 award. An interview with Hrynko by Emma Jacob was published on 18 December 2025, emphasizing her desire to engage audiences with climate change through her art.