By Dan Fastenberg

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A New York artist has gathered more than 350,000 acrylic fingers to make a neon-colored and pale-pink grotto – a memorial to those who survived the coronavirus pandemic.

    “A Fountain for Survivors,” enclosed in an 18-foot tall rhinestone-studded cave, was unveiled on Thursday in Times Square, offering visitors a refuge until Dec. 8.

    “Nails are what you do when it’s time to maintain,” said artist Pamela Council, who has used fountains in her other work exploring the Black experience in the United States.

You do something special for yourself, and nails is it. And that is what I believe survivors require.

Many Black people treat their nails as art, such as Michelle Abrokwa (29), who felt the sculpture made her remember her sister’s love for getting her nails done.

She said that each day was an entirely new design, which is kind of like their expressions. It would be something like “OK, my off-day is going to be this color. It is kind of a mood ring.

The fountain can be accessed by dropping a “wishing wafer” in the shape of a coin into it. This will cause it to fizz and release a healing scent.

    With New York emerging from lockdown, the Times Square Alliance said it estimated some 10 million pedestrians will see the free exhibit. It was the epicenter of pandemic at its earliest stages.

    Surviving the loss and lockdown was on the top of Council’s mind in creating her work.

    “We’ve all made it this far,” she said. “But we need to feel a little joy now.”