By Grace Maselli
He’s back and he’s headed north to Stowe, VT. The legendary Godzilla monster has been reimagined in 5′ 2″ of medical fiberglass casting bandages (and covered in an arty cocktail of materials: paper “clay” made of bamboo toilet paper, good old-fashioned white glue, and some dry wall compound) concocted by artist and TBT member, Delphine Geraci. “I’m also a bariatric nurse, so that’s what I could think of to make him extra strong,” says the ingenious road warrior.
Delphine took some of her inspiration from a paper clay art class offered through TBT partner organization, the Life Enrichment Center.
Bringing the mythic giant to life—complete with Mom tattoo and intimidating teeth—has been a Geraci family affair involving Delphine’s husband, Dean, and 13-year-old daughter, Stella. “We bought a little trailer and Dean built it up to exactly fit the 5’2″ Godzilla,” she says. Stella is on the road with Delphine as they wend their way toward New England, 1,200 miles north of Tampa to Stowe; it’s here where Godzilla will take up residence at Delphine’s friend’s bar and restaurant—or what Delphine describes as a big après ski hangout and sushi bar called The Matterhorn, otherwise known as Stowe’s world famous party spot voted #1 après ski joint in North America by USA Today readers. (Of course, there’s a certain poetic symmetry here. Godzilla as radioactive pop culture icon invented by Japanese filmmakers and known the world over AND beloved sushi—traditional Japanese haute cuisine made with rice, seaweed, raw seafood, and veggies.)
“I thought a giant Godzilla holding the Stowe ski gondola would be appropriate,” Delphine says.