The signature style of Daniel Dugan (American-Cuban, b. 1978) is that of a single continuous line that never overlaps and is uniformly spaced. Already at age 10 he became fixated on the idea of drawing one continuous line that is perfectly spaced and is linked from start to finish. Only later through his biological studies and an encounter with brain corals on his snorkeling trip began to make a deeper sense, converging math, science, and nature. “I learned they were brain coral, and there’s a mathematical formula for the perfectly spaced line over a spherical shape. It was a pivotal moment where I realized it must mean something, or there must be some alignment with nature.”
Dugan’s patience and precision focuses on the beautiful organization of chaos as he meticulously stacks the line together like a puzzle. Like labyrinths from centuries ago, the function is a spiritual one: to quiet the mind and foster contemplation. Much like in life, with each work, he practices the concept of “not knowing.”
With studios in Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Ibiza, his global projects have taken him to London, Havana, Bali, NYC, and Palm Beach, with upcoming projects in Kenya, South Africa, and Switzerland. His work was recently acquired by Eugenio Lopez as part of the Jumex Museum Collection and has been exhibited in Mexico City at the Museum of Modern Art.
Dugan has been profiled in Robb Report, Numéro Netherlands, the “Art Issue” of Angeleno Magazine, Zion St. Barth’s, The New York Post, and El Heraldo de Mexico who called him ‘El Artista de los Laberintos.“
“I have no idea why I started drawing the line. It was a form of meditation so my mind could wander and I could get lost in a random yet organized puzzle of my own creation. I make rules for each piece, like keeping the line equidistant from itself, and I stick to them to see what they may reveal. Each piece is a system, a network of chaotic activity that in the end appears organized. I’m learning that all we know in this world is that there is a beginning and ending to everything (emotions, relationships, days, etc); and everything in between is unknown. We know nothing for sure. As I create the line, I try not to control it; if I see a pattern, I break it. With every turn, I am constantly observing, accepting, and moving forward. Where will it go next? I don’t know. This is life as I’ve been experiencing it. Relaxing in the ‘not knowing”‘ is the most beautiful thing because then we get to see the miracles.” — Daniel Dugan
