Shintaro Okamoto

Shintaro Okamoto is a Japanese-born artist and founder of Okamoto Studio, a New York–based studio internationally recognized for transforming ice into immersive sculpture, installation, and live performance.

Born in Fukuoka and raised in Alaska, Okamoto learned the craft alongside his father, master sculptor Takeo Okamoto, whose achievements include a Silver Medal in ice sculpting at the Nagano Winter Olympics.

During his student years, Shintaro was recognized as a U.S. Presidential Scholar and honored at the White House before earning a BA from Brown University and an MFA from Hunter College. In 2003, father and son co-founded Okamoto Studio in New York City.

Working at the intersection of craftsmanship, design, and contemporary art, Okamoto has spent more than two decades expanding the possibilities of ice beyond traditional sculpture. Today, the studio collaborates with leading brands, cultural institutions, restaurants, fashion labels, and hospitality groups to create large-scale installations, custom cocktail ice programs, and experiential works that exist only for a moment before disappearing.

Through collaborations with HBO, Disney, Versace, Adidas, The North Face, and globally recognized brands and cultural institutions, Okamoto Studio has become known for creating emotionally charged environments that blur the boundaries between contemporary art, live performance, and brand experience. The studio's work has been featured by The New York Times, ABC News, HBO, WIRED, Architectural Digest, and international media outlets.

For Okamoto, ice is both medium and philosophy: physically powerful yet inherently temporary, capable of creating atmosphere, tension, and memory precisely because it disappears.