Oil Slick

I’ve always been fascinated by the iridescent colours that appear on the surface of an oil slick. Swirling blues, violets, greens and golds dance across what is, in reality, a thin layer of pollution.

It’s an uncomfortable contradiction. The colours are extraordinary, but we know exactly what they represent. Some things can be beautiful and troubling at the same time, and my new Oil Slick Earrings grew from that tension.

Each pair is handcrafted from glossy black glass, shaped in the flame into soft organic forms that echo puddles of oil. No two earrings are alike, just as no two slicks ever spread in quite the same way. A small constellation of cubic zirconia catches the light, adding another layer of sparkle as they move.

Getting these earrings right took some experimenting. My first design used brilliant-cut cubic zirconia, but the stones were deeper than I expected and the combination of three stones created a weak point in the glass. After some problem-solving, I switched to shallower baguette and pear-cut stones, which allowed me to create stronger pieces while still keeping the glittering effect I was after.

Living in New Zealand, it’s impossible not to think about our birds. We celebrate them, protect them and look closely enough to appreciate their quiet beauty. Stand beside a tūī in the right light, and their feathers come alive with iridescent blues, greens and bronzes. What first appears simply black is anything but.

It struck me that oil behaves in much the same way. It asks us to look closely too, but what we discover is very different.

Perhaps that’s why I wanted to make these earrings. Not because they celebrate oil, but because they hold that contradiction in glass. They invite us to notice the shimmer without forgetting its cost.

I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the things we choose to look at. Beauty can draw us in, but what we do with that attention matters.