By JESSICA SEDA
Herald Staff Writer
MONTAGUE — After fear of the disease hit close to home, local artist Elisa Ferracane was thrilled to be asked to design a statue for the American Parkinson's Disease Association's garden at its new Staten Island office.
Ferracane, a multi-media artist from Milford, Pa., transported the almost-3,000-pound statue to the garden early Saturday morning with the help of members of Thompson Stone in Montague. Thompson Stone supplied the New York Bluestone into which Ferracane carved the association's symbol.
"It was nice to get it put down," Ferracane said Sunday. "They had already put in flowers and plants and everything looked beautiful."
Ferracane engraved the cylinder-shaped statue with a Phoenix rising to catch tulips, the association's sign of hope. Ferracane came up with the idea after thinking about her own experience with the disease. After her husband suffered a loss of balance and stiffness in his legs, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Three years later, he found out that his Parkinson's-like symptoms had been caused by a car accident.
"I still get chills about it," Ferracane said. "Seeing his resurgence is what brought the Phoenix to mind."
The phoenix is a mythical bird that is the sign of immortality and life after death. According to Greek and Egyptian mythology, only one exists at a time and when one dies it is consumed by flames and another springs from its ashes.
Flames are engulfing the tail of Ferracane's statue. She used a shadowing effect on the stone to make the bird look like it is about to take flight from the stone. She plans to return to the garden to see how the light hits the statue and highlight or darken the stone for a shadow effect.
The sculpture's shape came to Ferracane in the middle of the night.
"The building is very modern-looking and a regular block of stone would not have stood out," she said. "I didn't know what I was going to do and then I woke up one night at 3 a.m. and thought of a lipstick tube!"
To get the exact shape, Ken Rosencrans of Thompson Stone spent hours carving the cylinder shape and
polishing the stone. Ferracane then made a rubber mold of her design, placed it on the stone and sandblasted it to get the desired look.
The association contacted Ferracane after seeing her work at the Staten Island Zoo, where she carved a large dinosaur replica into a granite wall. A ceremony will be scheduled to dedicate Ferracane's sculpture and the garden to its namesake, Bernard Goodman.
The Bernard Goodman Garden of Hope was funded by Goodman as a thank-you to the association for helping one of his family members who battled the disease.
Originally from Manhattan, Ferracane is a member of the Artery in Milford, a cooperative of artists from the tri-state area. Her work is on display in the group's building on Broad Street.
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