Daniel Barber. Horizon. 1990. Pencil, watercolor, gauche, charcoal, on paper. 12 x 16 inches (30.48 x 40.64 cm).

For decades I’ve made parallel bodies of work investigating similar ideas through various forms of representation and abstraction. Contemplating my current explorations of the sea —visually, somatically, gesturally, and physically— I thought of this mixed media work from 1990. A calm ocean, the flatness of Chicago where I then lived, the edge of space, the desert, an effort to embody meditation, observation, non-self and breath in a little study. At least that’s what I remember. This was part of a body of work I made on paper just as I was dramatically reintroducing life-size figures in my expansive oil paintings. I still have this one and a few others from that time, the rest are scattered about in various collections. It resonates with me still, echoes of it found in my current work, such as Plunging Breaker at Staircase Beach, Malibu. 2021.

Daniel Barber. Plunging Breaker at Staircase Beach, Malibu. 2021. Oil on panel. 16 x 24 in. (41 x 61 cm)