EDUCATION
2023 ‐ Reserch student, University of Tokyo
2015‐2016 MSc in Sustainable Design of Cardiff University, Welsh School of Architecture, United Kingdom
2015 Architectural Association Visiting School, Baku, Azerbaijan
2003 Entered the Union of Architects of Ukraine
2002 International Course on Wood Conservation Technology, Oslo, Norway
1994‐2000 MArch in Architecture, National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, Kyiv, Ukraine

SCULPTURE EXPERIENCE
2023 International Sand Sculpture Festival "Summer Signs“, Jelgava, Latvia
2021, 2022 International Straw and Hay Sculpture Contest “Fen Art Pontebba”, Pontebba, Italy (Jury prize)

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In Kochi of Shikoku Island in the West of Japan there exist a lot of beautiful beaches facing the Pacific Ocean. This is the place where Yoshi Matsugi was born and raised.

After receiving a master’s degree from the prestigious Tokyo University of Art, Yoshi discovered the fascinating and creative world of sand sculpture. From Asia to Europe and Canada to the US, Yoshi has been the first and only female Japanese pound-up style professional sand sculptor that has broken into the international arena.

Hi, I’m Carl Jara. I’m actually a pretty simple guy, When I'm not hanging out with my amazing daughter, I enjoy woodworking, gardening, food, a good book, and beer.

I have two of the most envied jobs in the world; exhibits creator for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and professional sand sculptor. I’ve earned the opportunity over the last 32 years to travel the world, win six dozen or so medals, and to work with and compete against almost every sand sculptor in the business, many of whom have become like family.

I create sand sculpture because I worship it, it is my spiritual experience. It is my opportunity to illustrate the profound changes, moments, and efforts of my own personal narrative and it gives me great pleasure to be able to share it with you.

‘If you ain’t first, you're last.’ This has been the family mantra since granddaddy Guinto invented fire and Chris continues to carry that torch to this day.

Evident in his sculptures in which millions have made pilgrimages to witness, words like “Supernatural”, “Divine providence” and “Number one on my bucket list” are often used to describe his sculptures. In a nutshell, as Chuck Norris once said: “Sculpting? I leave that to Chris Guinto.”

Karlis Ile is a professional sculptor from Latvia since 1995. He works with various materials; bronzes steel, granite, wood, and recently ice, snow and sand, because he "likes how the primeval force of these natural materials along with the magic of the moment makes energy vibrate."

Karlis graduated from Art Academy of Latvia and holds a master's degree in art in humanities. He finished figural sculpture Master workshop.

Karlis holds numerous gold medals from international festivals in many countries, Russia, Switzerland, Finland, China, Japan, Lithuania, the USA, Canada, Germany and his home country of Latvia.

My name is Ludo Roders and I come from the Netherlands.

I graduated from Rotterdam Willem de Kooning art academy. Not long after my study in painting, drawing and print techniques I got in touch with the world of sculptures of sand, ice and snow. Ever since I have been developing my skills and broadening my view by participating in festivals and competitions all over the world.

In the winter of 2021, I was the winner of a Dutch Television show Ice Masters. A competition on TV between six ice sculptors with four episodes. An amazing experience that I will never forget.

My sculptures are sweet symbioses of dream and reality. They breathe a magical and poetic atmosphere, something that is also often to be found in my paintings that I create in my studio.

Visit my website if you want to see more: www.ludoroders.com Or my Instagram: @ludoroders

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The Dutch artist Maxim Gazendam was born in 1981 in The Hague (NL) and studied Architecture at the Delft University of Technology.

During his studies he accidentally came into contact with sand sculptures. An afternoon of building sand sculptures for adults (as a team building workshop) laid the foundation for his later career in this field. Simultaneously with his studies at TU, Maxim developed his qualities in sculpture and design. In the meantime he himself gave the conscious workshops for team building activities to the business community.

Under his leadership, more than 10,000 people have followed the sand sculpture building program. Slowly but surely he received more assignments worldwide for the creation of professional sand sculptures, which was sometimes a logistical puzzle in combination with his teaching program and exams at TU Delft. After graduating in 2005, he was awarded the title of Master of Science of Architecture and decided to continue as a full-time sand artist. He started his one-man business under the name Puremaxim. In that period he made many sculptures with an architectural touch. His designs now have a very wide range of themes, but are always characterized by his own characteristic clean lines.

Over the years, in addition to creating sculptures himself, he has also developed the skills to set up, supervise and carry out complete exhibitions and events; whether or not in collaboration with an international team of sculptors. Several international prizes have now been won to his name. Follow him at Facebook and Instagram @puremaxim.

Born and raised in beautiful Maine, Amanda received a degree in Psychology from Univ. of Maine, Farmington while working for the Maine Army National Guard. After graduation, she worked in the field of H.R. until 9-11 and decided to make the Army her full-time job and became a Combat Engineer Officer. This was all well and good until the babies started coming. She hung up her M16 for a new role, a “homeschool mama”. Fast forward 13 years and she still is homeschooling one of her three children.

Amanda Bolduc's sand sculpting journey began on the beaches of Florida. During family vacations she would attend sand sculpting events year after year, and in 2006 finally decided she wanted to try it herself. Armed with nothing but a shovel and a bucket, Amanda, along with her mother, set to work creating her first sculpture. She quickly realized that sand sculpting was not as easy as it looked. It took hours of hard work and determination to create a sculpture that was both aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound. But the satisfaction of hearing the crowd’s reaction, made her realize this first sculpture was worth all the effort.

Since then, Amanda has gone on to compete throughout the U.S. at Semi-Pro competitions and recently moved up the ranks to Master Sculptor! Additionally, Amanda started carving snow in 2015 and competes annually at the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championship in Lake Geneva, WI along with fellow sand competitor Bruce Peck and Dan Belcher.