STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A new outdoor interactive sculpture by Diane Matyas, inspired by a Luna Park elephant, has arrived on Staten Island at Maker Park in Stapleton.
Until June 2026, visitors can see Alice, a 10-foot movable sculptured silhouette puppet installed on a symbolic metal shipping container covered in colorful Sri Lankan-inspired prints.
Long before becoming a piece of art, Alice was a real elephant whose story captured visual artist Matyas’ attention decades ago while she was researching local waterways for The Noble Maritime Collection.
In 1904, Alice, an elephant from Sri Lanka who performed at Luna Park, a famous amusement park on Coney Island, escaped her enclosure and swam across New York Harbor to New Dorp Beach, apparently searching for her homeland. This story resonated with Matyas, who had also relocated to Staten Island.
“She chose to come here just like me. I did not grow up here, but I live here, because I chose to live here. She was trying to get home to Sri Lanka,” the artist said.
To emphasize the elephant’s journey, the sculpture was placed against a shipping container with the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge as a backdrop.(Courtesy of Diane Matyas)
To emphasize this journey, the sculpture was placed against a shipping container with the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge as a backdrop. Matyas designed the sculpture to be moveable so visitors can physically interact with her legs, giving them a sense of the freedom Alice sought when she jumped into the dark and cold harbor waters.
With an artistic focus on the intersections between animals, biology, science and allegory, Matyas’ goal for the piece is to keep minds open about our interconnected world.
“There’s nuances of freedom,” she said. “It’s immigration. It’s the drama of animals being displaced, and people moving across the world.”
Since first learning Alice’s story, Matyas has been sharing it with others, through narrative lectures, theatrical puppetry and written retellings. This installation is another step forward in that mission, as well as an addition to her ongoing Luna Park Elephant Project, which is being supported by the New York Department of Cultural Affairs Art Fund and an artist residency at Maker Space NYC.
“I think it’s a Staten Island story that people don’t know, and little drips and drabs are coming through, because I’ve been pushing it along for a while,” Matyas explained.
Maker Park is located on Thompson Street, between Front Street and Bay Street, in Stapleton.
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