The first step towards making a figure for Cayman Brac’s Lost City of Atlantis is finding a
willing subject, according to the City’s creator, the artist known simply as ‘Foots’. Located
off the north coast of the Brac, the City is fast gaining a reputation as a unique artificial
reef, which is not costing the Government of the Cayman Islands a penny to make.
Among the columns, archways, the sundial and, later on, an enormous pyramid, Foots
plans to populate his City with figures, which he categorizes into Elders, Sentinels,
Prophets and Maidens. There are also two Medicine Men. The statue of Dr Hantray, who
covered for private practitioner Dr Charles Reid while he was away, Foots confessed, is
his favorite.
The doctor in real life has a short, neat beard, but Foots gave his statue the long bushy
beard the doctor always wanted, but is forbidden to grow by his wife. “You don’t have to be
special to become part of Atlantis. Everybody has their place in the world!"
The statues are of everyday people,” said Foots. Whether people become his models
depends on how he feels about them. “It’s what I see in their eyes.
One of the many rewards of making Atlantis is that I get to meet many cool people.” He
said that tourists, journalists and friends often just turn up in his yard. If Foots likes a person
and they agree to be a model, he said the next step is to make a plaster of Paris mix,
which is quick-setting, sheet-rock paste, mixed with a little bit of sand, which makes it set
even quicker.
He puts straws in the model’s mouth so that they can breathe throughout the process,
plugs up their nose with cotton wadding, and then spreads the paste over their face. Once
dry, which takes four to six minutes, he gently removes what is now a perfect caste of the
person’s face, down to every wrinkle, every line, every scar.
Depending on what part they will play in Atlantis, Foots makes a caste of their hands in
much the same way. Elders have their hands clasped in a set way. The Medicine Men hold
bottles and medicine cups, Sentinels and Prophets have their hands hidden. Maidens can
choose how they want to hold their hands themselves.
The mould is made from the same sand and cement mix as the rest of the body, and
afterwards the caste is thrown away. Foots then sculpts the body of his Atlantis figure
incorporating the mould of the face and hands, if these are included, as if the person was
lying flat on the floor. Then the statue is stood up and fine-tuned.
Finally, it is washed down with rusty salt water to give it a stained look. None of the
materials he uses cause harm to the environment, he insists. So far, although he has made
a number of figures, only one is on the dive site. Foots said he is waiting for suitable
weather conditions, at which point; he will sink the next phase of Atlantis.
One of his more ambitious future projects will be to create the Statue of Atlantis. This will
be a colossus that, if it was in one piece, it would be thirty feet high. However, Foots is
going to construct it bit by bit, as though the great statue toppled over and broke into
pieces with the destruction of the Lost City. The Statue of Atlantis, like every other figure,
will be a real person, and he already knows who it will be.
He has also decided on the identity of the King and Queen of Atlantis, who will be seated
on their thrones in the City. “There are all kinds of growth imaginable on Phase One, which
we sank last year,” claims Foots, who noted that there are Eagle Rays, Peacock
Flounders, angel fish, and barracuda already moving onto the site. “When you fly over, you
can see Atlantis from the air on a clear day,” he added. “The Pyramid of Atlantis is going
to be unbelievable.”
nicky@caymannetnews.com
willing subject, according to the City’s creator, the artist known simply as ‘Foots’. Located
off the north coast of the Brac, the City is fast gaining a reputation as a unique artificial
reef, which is not costing the Government of the Cayman Islands a penny to make.
Among the columns, archways, the sundial and, later on, an enormous pyramid, Foots
plans to populate his City with figures, which he categorizes into Elders, Sentinels,
Prophets and Maidens. There are also two Medicine Men. The statue of Dr Hantray, who
covered for private practitioner Dr Charles Reid while he was away, Foots confessed, is
his favorite.
The doctor in real life has a short, neat beard, but Foots gave his statue the long bushy
beard the doctor always wanted, but is forbidden to grow by his wife. “You don’t have to be
special to become part of Atlantis. Everybody has their place in the world!"
The statues are of everyday people,” said Foots. Whether people become his models
depends on how he feels about them. “It’s what I see in their eyes.
One of the many rewards of making Atlantis is that I get to meet many cool people.” He
said that tourists, journalists and friends often just turn up in his yard. If Foots likes a person
and they agree to be a model, he said the next step is to make a plaster of Paris mix,
which is quick-setting, sheet-rock paste, mixed with a little bit of sand, which makes it set
even quicker.
He puts straws in the model’s mouth so that they can breathe throughout the process,
plugs up their nose with cotton wadding, and then spreads the paste over their face. Once
dry, which takes four to six minutes, he gently removes what is now a perfect caste of the
person’s face, down to every wrinkle, every line, every scar.
Depending on what part they will play in Atlantis, Foots makes a caste of their hands in
much the same way. Elders have their hands clasped in a set way. The Medicine Men hold
bottles and medicine cups, Sentinels and Prophets have their hands hidden. Maidens can
choose how they want to hold their hands themselves.
The mould is made from the same sand and cement mix as the rest of the body, and
afterwards the caste is thrown away. Foots then sculpts the body of his Atlantis figure
incorporating the mould of the face and hands, if these are included, as if the person was
lying flat on the floor. Then the statue is stood up and fine-tuned.
Finally, it is washed down with rusty salt water to give it a stained look. None of the
materials he uses cause harm to the environment, he insists. So far, although he has made
a number of figures, only one is on the dive site. Foots said he is waiting for suitable
weather conditions, at which point; he will sink the next phase of Atlantis.
One of his more ambitious future projects will be to create the Statue of Atlantis. This will
be a colossus that, if it was in one piece, it would be thirty feet high. However, Foots is
going to construct it bit by bit, as though the great statue toppled over and broke into
pieces with the destruction of the Lost City. The Statue of Atlantis, like every other figure,
will be a real person, and he already knows who it will be.
He has also decided on the identity of the King and Queen of Atlantis, who will be seated
on their thrones in the City. “There are all kinds of growth imaginable on Phase One, which
we sank last year,” claims Foots, who noted that there are Eagle Rays, Peacock
Flounders, angel fish, and barracuda already moving onto the site. “When you fly over, you
can see Atlantis from the air on a clear day,” he added. “The Pyramid of Atlantis is going
to be unbelievable.”
nicky@caymannetnews.com
| Foots pours a quick drying paste over his model’s face. |
| Dr. Hantray beside the statue created by Foots, who confessed is his favorite. |
| Populating the beach are some of the artists latest creations. |
| ATLANTIS CAYMAN BRAC TRADEMARK 2009-2010, CAYMAN BRAC, CAYMAN ISLANDS, B.W.I. ALL PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT 2009-2010, J. FOOTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED |
| A young Bracker admires the artist’s favorite figure that of Dr. Hantray. |
| COPYRIGHT CAYMAN NETNEWS 2007 |
