Jason DeCaire Taylor, a British sculptor, creates beautiful and haunting life-size sculptures underwater in the oceans. These evolve to become reefs, many in places where the original reefs have suffered environmental degradation. His exhibits can be seen either by diving or glass-bottom boats, all over the world.
“Vicissitudes” is a large circle of figures shackled together and holding hands, off the coast of Grenada in the Caribbean.
The section of the underwater park which has attracted the most attention is Vicissitudes which opened in 2007. Located at a depth of 14 feet, it comprises a circle of 26 life-size cement “children,” all holding hands.
The figures in Vicissitudes are crafted from a variety of media but predominantly from material on which plants, algae, or certain sea animals, such as barnacles, live or grow, as well as marine grade cement, sand, micro-silica and reinforcing steel.
He envisioned the collective strength of the figures as they formed a circle to resist the currents of the water, achieving that strength through “unity.” He deliberately chose children of diverse backgrounds as models for the casts from which the figures were made. In this manner he hoped to create an image of an expansive, global community.
Vicissitudes
Vicissitudes is one of Taylor’s most notable sculptures. Located 5 meters below the surface of the water, it’s composed of life-sized figures of local children holding hands and forming a circle. With the concrete sculpture now forming corals, the natural transformation reflects how children can adapt to any environment as they grow up.
