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Underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor has announced his latest work, “Ocean Gaia,” the first underwater sculpture ever installed in Japan. The monumental work, which was installed on October 14th, rests about 16 feet beneath the surface off the island of Tokunoshima near the country’s southwestern tip. Weighing over 45 tons and spanning 18 feet across, the underwater sculpture features a serene large-scale portrait of Kiko Mizuhara, a renowned Japanese model and avid scuba diver.

Set close to shore and embedded within the fringing reef, the sculpture is perforated with openings around its edges to invite marine life inside, transforming it into both artwork and habitat. The artist says its gently swirling contours echo the intricate sand circles crafted by the Japanese white-spotted pufferfish—made famous by the BBC’s Life Story series—as well as the rising peaks and valleys of the nearby mountain range.

According to deCaires Taylor, “Ocean Gaia” envisions the sea as a vast maternal force that breathes, renews, and heals. Drawing from the myth of Gaia, the primordial mother, the work reflects on the ocean as origin and consciousness, the source from which all life emerged. It speaks to interconnection and reverence, a reminder that the ocean is not apart from us, but an entity on which we are entirely dependent.

Head over to www.underwatersculpture.com to learn more about deCaires Taylor’s unique projects.