Gilded Drifters - Jellyfish

The first time I encountered jellyfish beneath the still ocean off Baros, in the Maldives, their languid, gravity-defying movement lodged itself in my mind. It was sunset, the water darker than usual, and I wanted this mosaic to recreate that surreal experience: the sense of hovering in a vast, shadowed expanse as golden bells drifted past my legs. Each one felt like a magical alien, moving with silent resilience, a reminder that beauty often hides in places we seldom linger.

To capture that feeling, I hand-cut hundreds of glass tesserae, allowing the natural fracture lines to dictate the flow of each tentacle. The crowns are built from thicker, chunky glass tiles so they catch stray light and mimic the soft flicker of planktonic glow. Around the margins, I inlaid pale aqua in sharp, deliberate lines to suggest diffuse seawater, then grouted in charcoal, letting the negative space read as a star-strewn night more than a literal ocean.

As I laid the final pieces, I kept thinking about fragility, both the jellyfish’s delicate form and our own emotional selves. By fusing brittle shards into a single, cohesive design, I’m saying that vulnerability can be a source of quiet strength. I hope viewers feel a moment of calm, as though they, too, are suspended in a deep, dark sea where every slow heartbeat makes the water shine.