The Syracuse University community welcomes you to visit DARKELEGY, the sculpture by Suse Lowenstein depicting the grief thatoverwhelmed the families of victims of Pan Am 103 in the instant theylearned of this terrible tragedy on December 21, 1988.
The terrorist bombing that claimed the lives of 259 on board thejetliner and 11 in their homes in Lockerbie, Scotland, has had a profoundeffect on this campus and the Central New York region. Thirty-fivestudents in the Syracuse University study abroad program, two from theState University College at Oswego, one from Colgate, and a young couplefrom Clay perished in the terrorist attack.
In an article in the January 30, 1994 New York Times, sculptor SuseLowenstein told reporter Sophia M. Fischer what led her to create DARKELEGY. It was a way to express her own pain, as she was one of themothers who lost a child in the tragic bombing over Lockerbie. She begansculpting images of herself reacting to her son Alexander's death, andwhen mothers in a national support group, Victims of Pan Am Flight 103,heard what she was doing, several asked to participate.
The women posed nude or with little clothing so that Ms. Lowensteincould clearly view their body language. For some it was difficult, butnecessary, because the artist felt that clothing the figures would havecreated differences where none existed. Black or white, rich or poor, allthe women suffered loss and experienced the pain, anger and grief, shesaid.
Men have not been represented in the work only because none haveapproached her. "If someone wanted, I would include him."
Moving the sculptures to each exhibit site is not easy. The averageweight of each statue is 225 pounds, requiring a 4-man crew, using abucket loader to lift the individual pieces into a 46-foot tractor-trailer. Constructed of chicken wire, synthetic stone and fiberglass over a hollowwelded steel armature, the sculptures are usually placed on grass. Theyare free standing, require no underground fastening, and are weather-resistant. The exhibit has been touring for three years and the sculpturesremain outdoors year round.
"Each body has a specific language and responds differently," Ms.Lowenstein said. "That's why the figures are so various in theirexpressions. The feeling over the loss of a child is so deep. It is a lossyou cannot anticipate and which will always be there. The difficult partto deal with is knowing it will never change."
"The portrayal of the human body has always been the mostintriguing challenge in my work. I am fascinated by its ability to expressthe human spirit with all its complexities and emotions."
What makes my sculpture, DARK ELEGY, unique is the factthat this tragedy is portrayed by me, an insider, a participant rather thansomeone on the outside looking in. I find it important to record the scopeof this tragedy for the generations to come. I hope that this statementwill stand as a reminder not only of one of this nation's darkest moments,but also of what blind hatred leaves in its wake.
My hope is that the viewers of my sculpture will be drawn intounderstanding its full depth and experience the power of the emotionsportrayed in these bodies of stone: realizing our fragility. In an instantwe can lose that which is most precious to us.
Syracuse University suffered a terrible loss of 35 students. Asidefrom gratitude I therefore feel a sense of "rightness" that DARKELEGY will be on prominent exhibit on the Syracuse campus for theupcoming school year.
All the figures are larger than life. They are made of syntheticstone over a welded steel armature. When completed, DARK ELEGYwill consist of more than 100 figures.
DARK ELEGY is dedicated to all victims of terrorism.
Return to Victim Page