Hydra's Head
On a bank of the Niagara River, six pools of water, encircled by concrete, are arranged in the pattern of the constellation Hydra. Their mirror-like quality reflects the sky, the light, the colors of the world above while below, the river rages endlessly onwards. Hydra is the name of a mythical sea monster; the soul and substance of this work is water. Holt was entranced by the Seneca Nation proverb: “Pools of water are the eyes of the earth.” The pools of Hydra’s Head bear witness to the site’s magnificence—from the stars in the night sky to the ripple of a water beetle.