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Oakley Richards

Pictures made by breaking glass.

Each piece is a single sheet of safety glass, cracked by hand, one strike at a time, until an image appears in the fractures.

One blow cracks it. Hold and it keeps going, with long runners you can’t call. There is no undo.

Thinking about a commission?

Load a photo and watch it appear in the glass. It stays on your device and is never uploaded.

How a piece is made

  1. 1

    Map the light

    A photo is reduced to light and shadow, then printed at full size as a strike map. Bright areas will be cracked densely. Shadows are left as clear glass.

  2. 2

    Strike

    The map goes under a sheet of laminated safety glass. Every mark is one blow from a hammer and punch. The plastic layer inside the glass holds each fracture in place.

  3. 3

    Back it in black

    Against a black board the clear glass disappears and the cracks catch the light. The picture is nothing but broken glass.

A face, a dog, a place you love. In glass.

Send a photo and the size you have in mind. You get a straight answer on whether it will work, and a fixed quote before any money changes hands.

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