Post a picture, Rosemary. Without sunlight, these plants will struggle. Also, they need to be kept moist or they will drop leaves. I made that mistake when I started growing these. I treated them like other succulents, withholding water indoors during the winter, and mine dropped all their leaves. It wasn't until I began keeping them consistently watered that they thrived indoors. Josh

Welcome to Gardenweb! On elephant ears, I think most people wait until frost kills the tops and then wait for a nice day to dig them up. Don't worry about it hurting your bulbs. They can stand some pretty cold temperatures and even this far north (Springfield area), they will sometimes return if you leave them in the ground all winter. But - when mine have made it through the winter in the ground, they didn't grow as well the next summer. I think they do better when I dig them up and store them. I have stored mine both in an unheated garage and also in my basement closet which is cool but not cold and they did fine both places. If you search this forum for elephant ears, you will find more info. Some people dig a hole to store theirs but our ground is rocky and I've never tried that. It's too much work to dig.

the word you are looking for is propagation ... and after you cut the tops off for such.. all that is left is to see if the bottom will resprout ... i dont grow these .. so im not sure ... also .. its a giant plant is what looks like a small pot.. so once it sprouts.. you might want to look into repotting it ... media does wear out ... watch a few of these ... and maybe they will mention what to do with the bottom part .... ken https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Colocasia+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

I love this. How big is It? If it were mine I would put it in my living room, near my piano. I love the color combo, especially the reds and pinks along with the dark colors. It would also work in my dining room. Can you post some photos of your space so we can give you some ideas? You said it is a photo. Is it a photo of a painting? I think your niece should be proud of this piece.