The 17-feet tall kneeling sculpture of young Bahamian girl supporting a ceiling of water is titled “Ocean Atlas”. Created by sculpture artist Jason de Caires Taylor, the work alludes to Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology who was punished for all eternity by holding the world on his back.

The sculpture is the largest underwater statue. It weighs 60 tons and is intended to gain serenely at her surroundings for the rest of time. During low tide, the sculpture takes on another appearance as its reflection apperas under the sea’s surface, creating an illusion of a mirror for divers.

To place her at the site, Taylor developed a technique that involved lowering and assembling the work in smaller sections. A solar light has been afixed to the sculpture in order to aid marine navigation and a flag has been created to the sculpture’s apex.

The sculpture was commissioned by the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation in honor of its founder Nichlas Nuttall. “Ocean Atlas” is part of an ongoing underwater sculpture garden that includes works by other artists. Its aim is to aid coral polyps to attach to the statue’s surface to create a new reef and to draw tourists away from natural reef areas under environmental stress.

The 17-feet tall kneeling sculpture of young Bahamian girl supporting a ceiling of water is titled “Ocean Atlas”. Created by sculpture artist Jason de Caires Taylor, the work alludes to Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology who was punished for all eternity by holding the world on his back.

The sculpture is the largest underwater statue. It weighs 60 tons and is intended to gain serenely at her surroundings for the rest of time. During low tide, the sculpture takes on another appearance as its reflection apperas under the sea’s surface, creating an illusion of a mirror for divers.

To place her at the site, Taylor developed a technique that involved lowering and assembling the work in smaller sections. A solar light has been afixed to the sculpture in order to aid marine navigation and a flag has been created to the sculpture’s apex.

The sculpture was commissioned by the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation in honor of its founder Nichlas Nuttall. “Ocean Atlas” is part of an ongoing underwater sculpture garden that includes works by other artists. Its aim is to aid coral polyps to attach to the statue’s surface to create a new reef and to draw tourists away from natural reef areas under environmental stress.