UNDERWATER SCULPTURES

Ever imagined yourself visiting an Underwater Sculpture Park? The world’s first Underwater Sculpture Park located in Grenada, West Indies was created by Jason de Caires Taylor in the year 2006 that has given him international recognition for his exclusive artwork. He was born in 1974 and graduated from the Camberwell College of Arts, University of Art London with a BA Honor in Sculptures and Ceramics. His two passions of diving and sculpture have made him create this amazing underwater art.

These artworks created by him depicted Grenada’s history and tradition. His sculptures tell us about the ecological processes and it also explores the complex relationship between the environment and modern art. These sculptures ended up in creating artificial or say man-made reefs which helped in enhancing the marine world and it also puts forward the artists’ intentions to promote the need to safeguard our natural world.

The sculptures are placed well below the clear shallow water which allows easy access to the divers, snorkelers and can be easily viewed from the glass-bottomed boats. Some of the artworks that are present underwater are:-

· Vicissitudes (Depth 4.5m, Grenada, West Indies): depicts a circle of 26 life-size figures and all are linked by holding hands. This is the largest among all.

· The Lost Correspondent (Depth 7m, Grenada, West Indies): depicts a man sitting at a desk with a typewriter. The desk is covered with original newspaper articles and cuttings which date back to the late 1970’s.

· The Un-Still Life (Depth 7.8m, Grenada, West Indies): depicts an arrangement of cement objects, a Vase, a Bowl and Fruits.

· Sienna (Depth 3.8m, Grenada, West Indies): depicts a young girl who is gifted with free diving, a character from Jacob Ross short story ‘A Different Ocean’ from the book “A Way to Catch the Dust”.

· Grace Reef (Depth 4.2m, 16 figures, Grenada, West Indies): depicts a series of 16 figures casted from the body of a Grenadian woman.

· La Diablesse (Depth 7.5m, Grenada, West Indies): depicts the traditions of Caribbean story-telling and folklore. La Diablesse is derived from the French word ‘She-Devil’. Her face resembles the corpse and half of her head is hidden under a brimmed hat.

The other artworks present are:-

TamCC Project (depth2m, 18 heads, Grenada, West Indies), The fall from Grace (Depth 6.5m, Grenada, West Indies), Inverted Solitude (Depth 1.5m, Chepstow, U.K), Alluvia (depth 1.2m, Canterbury, U.K), Fish & Chips (depth 2m, Grenada, West Indies)