Artist defends ‘tone deaf’ underwater statue

A statue depicting Shakespeare’s tragic heroine Ophelia has been slammed as ‘tone deaf’ and ‘insensitive’.

Jason deCaires Taylor, 50, created the sculpture – which is made of recycled glass, steel and LED lights – and installed it in the River Stour in Canterbury.

Dubbed ‘The Alluvia’, the white sculpture shows a woman lying with her eyes shut, with various flowers adorning her chest.

Taylor said there is no connection between his statue and the tragic drownings off the coast of Kent – but welcomed the outpouring of empathy for what’s happened in the channel.

He added: ‘I was surprised… 99.9% of all the feedback that I’ve received has been very positive… But at the same time, I appreciate everybody takes something different from everything they see.

‘It’s an extremely tragic situation, and I don’t think ignoring it is the solution. If [this work] can foster any kind of care and sympathy for that situation, then I think that’s a good thing.’

Previously, Taylor’s work has drawn attention to political issues including Brexit and migration – but he said this sculpture was not intended to be political.

The woman in the sculpture was intended to represent Ophelia, as seen in Sir John Everett Millais’s famous painting, ‘Ophelia’.