The Ice Dragon

The Ice dragon is a paper lantern that was created in 2019 for a lantern parade in Mount Holly, North Carolina. When designing this work, I wanted to capture the awe and intensity of what it would feel like to come face to face with a life-size dragon. I wanted to generate excitement for everyone along the parade route as they were able to see a moving dragon that was created to scale.

Being a lantern, the work is made of tissue paper glued onto a wire framework, with battery lights. This is generally quite rigid and delicate. One of my goals while designing this work, was to push the materials in ways I have not done before. I wanted to make it as moveable and interactive as possible, which I accomplished. The Ice Dragon is 19’ long, 9’ tall, with a 12’ wingspan when the wings are extended. The eyes open and shut. The mouth can open and shut, with “ice fire” extending out when open and retracting when shutting the mouth. The arms are movable enough to “high five” kids in the audience along the parade route. The tail was designed to be able to swing from side to side, and of course, the wings can flap or be pulled in next to the body. During the initial parade presentation, we moved about on the street, zigzagging to greet the audience and “high five” those awestruck children who did not cower back in fear.
It was fun watching the children’s eyes grow large along the parade route and one described it as a “gargantuan” size dragon. The adults were also very often mesmerized and amazed at the detail and moving parts.