Installed at The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oak, NY.
In 2015, Robin Antar publicly unveiled her most personal creation – a 1,500-pound of Turkish marble transformed into a sculpture carved in memory of her son, David, who passed away at the age of 26.
“The stone, which now weighs 1,000 pounds, has purple veins running through it," said Antar. "When David was young and having a very hard time with life, his ‘secret code’ to me when he needed help was to whisper ‘purple!’ That was also his favorite color when he was around eight years old. I had forgotten all of that when I purchased the stone – but it all came back to me as I worked through the carving.”
I carved a knot because David had a very hard life. The knot represents his pain; but the knot breaks open into a flame, which to me represents life – his soul rising to Heaven. This was an extremely hard thing for a mother to do. But for me, a sculptor, it was also a work of healing.”
David’s Knot in Flames is permanently installed at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oak, New York where it inspires the patients admitted to their behavioral health center. A tradition among patients is to touch the sculpture for good luck so they would never have to return, a testament to the power behind Antar’s work.