The meticulous work of Daniel Dugan (American-Cuban, b. 1978) has been a practice since he was 10 years old: “one continuous line” that never overlaps and is uniformly spaced. He was making labyrinths. Each piece tracks his stream of consciousness movement combining both freedom of movement with the boundaries of the surface. He eventually learned that his meditative style represents the flow of life, time, and the unexpected events and emotions that unfold along the way. Will we accept each moment as they happen for us, or try to control them?

Dugan remembers drawing the line in notebooks, napkins, and on random objects in the Fourth Grade. Then, it was just a game he would play, a meditation, a problem-solving exercise of precision and patience. Could he fill the whole page? He grew up in a small town in Alabama and was Valedictorian of his high school. With a fascination with anatomy and human connection, he graduated with honours in biology (pre-med) from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and worked in surgery during summer breaks. Instead of going to medical school, he moved to New York City and trained and worked as an actor in theater, television, and film. All the while, he obsessively filled pages with the line. Moving to Los Angeles in 2010 to star in a feature film (opposite Murray Bartlett), the left-handed creative got a studio space to explore his visual creativity. He began using mediums apart from ink: acrylic, oil, watercolor, wire, wood, sand, moss, steel, etc. It was then that he realized he couldn’t stop, that the line had infinite possibilities.

On his first snorkeling trip in the Caribbean, Dugan was shocked to see there was a striking resemblance with his line to brain coral. He started working with a group of scientists and coral foundations to plan underwater sculptures that will help regrow coral reefs. This connection with nature was a signal that the line must continue.

In 2014, Dugan was asked to make his first commission: to draw an anatomical heart. And from that, more commissions came. Every day of the week he found himself sequestered in his studio creating more and more simply to appease his curiosity. In 2023, his tedious work was noticed by renowned art collector Eugenio Lopez, owner of the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, who acquired four earlier works for his collection. Dugan’s work was recently exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art Mexico City, Hilario Galguera Gallery, Zona Maco, and in places such as Ibiza, Paris, New York, and Switzerland.

Dugan has been inspired to take his line into communities around the world. In 2018, he hosted an “Art Day” with school children in Havana, Cuba. His mom was born in Havana, and was granted political exile to the U.S. in 1960. So it was his life-long dream to explore his Cuban roots. Together he and the children created a vibrant 4-ft piece that will be sold with proceeds benefitting art initiatives in Havana. This project led to a collaboration in 2020 with UTA Fine Arts and Ms. Tina Knowles of Waco Theater to lead an “Art Day” with 28 middle school students from inner city LA. He then went to Bali in 2022 to be inspired by the culture, materials, and people he met, which led to a month-long residency at Morabito Art Villa. He teamed up with Bali Children Foundation to host an “Art Day” with a rural school and painted a 15-foot mural and five canvases with the children which will be sold with proceeds to benefit the Foundation and school.

Dugan has been profiled in Robb Report, Numéro Netherlands, the Art Issue of Angeleno Magazine, and El Heraldo de México, and his work has been published in El País, Reforma, Quien, Architectural Digest China, Red Carpet Club Mexico, Traditional Home, and the Los Angeles Times.

“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