Two Feet of Snow

for some, the feb. 10 snowstorm was an inconvenience. but for upper west side artist gerry lynas, the blizzard presented a creative opportunity.

lynas crafted two feet of snow on west 83rd street, a 5-and-a-half-foot tall representation of a pair of human feet directly in front of his home and studio, at 233 w. 83rd st. and broadway.

"i got home [that night], and felt that the snow was perfect material," he said. "it's seldom that you get that kind of snow that sticks together. usually it's just way too powdery."

lynas set out to build a simple tower of snow, but soon found his medium guiding him elsewhere.

"eventually i realized that the material was sufficient to build two towers, so i started to build buttresses, which became a pair of feet," he said. "i connected them at the calves and the sculpture was identifiable as the feet of a 50-foot giant."

the feet did not stay at their full height for very long, however. the next day, lynas discovered that the sculpture had partially collapsed into the street. it is unclear if this was a natural occurrence, but lynas wasn't too bothered.

"it looks like something out of antiquity," he said.

snow sculpting isn't a new endeavor for the artist. in 1977, he built a 38-foot-long wooly mammoth on the lawn of the american museum of natural history. that work got him a commission for a snow sculpture, north wind, that was unveiled at the 1980 winter olympics in lake placid. lynas, however, prefers to work in sand, and has also worked in bronze and concrete. to view more of his sculptures, visit www.sandsong.com