"Oilbow began as a question: "How do these supernatural colors arise from these oil spots?". Then the image 'OilFish' of an oily shimmer on asphalt after rain, captured out of curiosity, gradually became a compass, guiding me to the sea, where I took 'Metaxia' the first photograph of oil spots on it. It merged curiosity with the decision to become the voice of Xazar, which will express the situation with the pollution that I remember, I painted in childhood for a group exhibition. From that photograph, over the years, I kept returning to the coastline, documenting how oil paints its own kind of rainbow.

A thin layer of oil on water is only a few microns thick. When light hits this layer, part of it reflects off the top surface, while another part passes through and reflects off the boundary between the oil and water.

These two reflected waves interfere with each other: sometimes amplifying in constructive interference, sometimes cancelling out in destructive interference, depending on the light’s wavelength, color, and the viewing angle. The result is a shifting, iridescent effect, a palette that appears almost alien to the natural world. Most often, it displays hues of light blue, pink, yellow, and violet, changing as the viewer moves.

This unique visual phenomenon became our shared language with my dear Xazar Sea — a collaboration capturing a paradox: the quiet beauty born from ecological imbalance. In a meditative state, I listened to the sound of the sea, watching the movement of these spots with the same attention we give when listening to someone speak or reading in a familiar language. Over the course of eight years, the project explored contrasts between beauty and contamination, nature and industry, accident and intention. The Caspian Sea became both a mirror and a stage, reflecting not only the sky, but the hidden cost of human activity. This body of work is a document, a question, and a quiet invitation to look closer.

Thus, I got my answer that completed this project for me. And lastly I will ask you:

What do we find beautiful, even when it arises from damage?

What traces do we leave behind — and who will read them after us?"

Emin Mathers

Baku, Caspian Coast, 2025