Cornwall has always been a wonderful place to go diving. Now, a Cornish scuba diver and sculptor has honoured the sport - by creating a massive, 6m-long diver sculpture from metal, wood and treated paper.

Graham Jobbins, of Botallack near St Just, is a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver who loves getting beneath the surface of Falmouth's Mount's Bay and absorbing, he says, the passport to "other-worldliness" that scuba diving provides.

He is also an established sculptor who, specialising in structures based on welded metal, has made, among others things, a rendition of Ali G, daleks, dragons, props for theatres, and a 20m-high tower which is now a permanent fixture at rock festival venue Glastonbury.

It was inevitable that his two loves would combine - and the result was a magnificent diver sculpture which debuted at Truro's City of Lights festival in November last year. Jobbins made a basic metal framework, then created the figure from willow and paper, treated with PVA glue to ensure a tight stretch and resilient finish. Inside the sculpture run three lighting circuits.

"The body, limbs and head were made as separate units," Jobbins told Divernet. "Fitted, the limbs and head are supported by counterweights, which allow a certain amount of movement." So this diving sculpture can even fin...

The diver now sits at the Eden Project near St Austell, until Easter. It will then take up residence at Undersea Adventures dive centre at Penwith, near St Ives. But a few more nocturnal festival appearances, at which the sculpture can again flash its lights, are on the cards.

"I am hoping to use it again as a street lantern at various festivals in Cornwall during the summer, including the Lafrowda Festival at St Just on the third Saturday in July," said Jobbins.

Divers, human or otherwise, must have their night on the town!


News Index Page