Mexico's haunting undersea sculpture garden encases country's men, women and children in breathtaking 'living' display

By NINA GOLGOWSKI

Published: 02:29 EST, 20 October 2012 | Updated: 10:46 EST, 20 October 2012

Few works of art could be so dramatic, eco-friendly and despite its trick to get to, a success.

But one British artist's underwater sculpture gardens, positioning hundreds of life-sized men, women and children moulded from real humans captures just that.

Planted off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, divers are not only welcome but encouraged to explore the hundreds of detailed bodies and faces otherwise left in the quiet company of fish and creeping coral reefs.

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Undersea community: A woman dives metres below the surface off Cancun, Mexico to explore hundreds of men, women and children molded from the ones above on land

Alive: Captured just right, bubbles appear to flow from a woman's mouth who tilts her head back up to the sun

Human garden: All of the artwork is made from a special type of cement that is 10 times harder than normal and has a neutral PH making it favourable to corals which will gradually grow and cover

The bankers: Suited men with their heads buried in the sand are meant to show their denial of economic crisis, while the artist also says their open legs serve as a place for fish and other wildlife to grow and hide

The mission of 37-year-old artist Jason de Claires-Taylor is to distract divers from the nearby Mesoamerican Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world, that struggles to handle the swarming tourists who visit annually.

It is also gradually working to become an artificial habitat to the fish and plant life on an otherwise barren sea floor.

'It's like putting a sculpture in the Sahara,' de Claires-Taylor told the New York Times of his work, emphasizing the amount of space the seafloor offers as one's palate.

In one recently added section titled Urban Reef, a structure resembling a human house is found, complete with windows, roof shingles and a chimney - perfect for moray eels the design states.

'Working with local marine biologists the units are designed with a variety of rooms, spaces, hideaways and textures all tailored for different reef inhabitants.

‘Located on an open stretch of terrain the houses also offer a place of shelter and refuge from reef predators such as Barracudas and Lion Fish,' his gallery explains.

Taken over: Once resembling human faces, they now appear spiked and brightly coloured by all the small underwater plants using it as their newly claimed habitat

Model: A woman on the left is seen before posing for her molding with its end product appearing center and later, over time, on the far right

From above: The head and torso of a woman is seen on her back as she is gradually covered by plants and debris that still fail to hide her distinct curves and features

Selection: This man was also chosen as a model, with the artist saying he made his selection by people's cheek bones and facial lines

Since the park's creation in 2009 - expanding from his first off Grenada in the West Indies that was listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic - the park has grown to nearly 500 pieces, each with their own story to tell.

Such is the case of the bankers, a collection of suited men with their heads buried in the sand.

Among them lay scattered brief cases and calculators.

‘The installation symbolizes a resistance and denial to acknowledge our looming environmental crisis and the shortsighted actions and poor accountability of banking and government institutions.

‘The identical positioning of the figures in a pray like pose also aims to depict a shifting in values and misplaced emphasis towards monetary remuneration.

New lives: With cameras lighting up their bodies otherwise draped in the night's darkness, a new skin of coral is pictured encasing the men and women beneath the waves

Angel fish: A woman spreads her arms and arches her back as wings of purple coral spread out from her sides

Open home: A structure resembling a house, complete with roof shingles, windows and a chimney, is seen waiting new residents of both plants and fish

Set and ready: A table set with a bowl of grenades and fruit rests ready for diners which are expected to soon be tiny plants and animals using it as shelter

Eco-friendly drive: A Volkswagen Beetle is seen on the ocean's floor with the body of a human curled on its windshield in what too will provide an eco-friendly home to the otherwise barren floor

‘The design also supports an internal living space between the legs of bankers for crustaceans and juvenile fish to breed and inhabit,’ his gallery explains.

Approximately 6-8 metres below the sunlit surface, all of the artwork is made from a special type of cement which is 10 times harder than the normal kind and has a neutral PH making it favourable to corals.

With the area prone to strong weather like hurricanes, the statues are reinforced by rigid fibreglass with similar properties to rock so they remain in place.

They are also anchored to the rocky sea bed 10 metres below the surface using a special drill, fused together and weighing over 120 tons in total.

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