Most of us enjoy the surf and sand, but Brighton Denevan digs deeper. To this local land artist, a beach isn’t just a beach—it’s an expansive canvas. “I think the framing of this cave is really nice,” Brighton notes, shovel in hand as he surveys a small cavern in the cliffside at San Gregorio State Beach. Despite the icy wind gusting outside, he’s in flipflops—a Santa Cruz native through and through. A partial pattern in the sand spiderwebs beneath his feet. When passersby stumble across one of Brighton’s massive works, they might attribute it to aliens enjoying a beach day, leaving crop circles in their wake. Brighton’s artistic dialogue with the elements has taken him across California and the states beyond, as well as countries like Mexico, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. His patterns vary from spiraling to labyrinthine, radial to patchwork-like—many with the intricacy of Celtic or Mayan detailing, some with basket-weave textures or florals. He also seeks inspiration from the Fibonacci sequence, a naturally occurring pattern found in everything from pinecones to nautilus shells. “There’s so much freedom beyond the gallery walls … It’s not constrained within the frame of the building,” says Brighton, who favors a rake for his alfresco artwork. “If it’s out in nature, it’s wild and spilling out into the world and forces are acting on it.” PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 91 ARTWORK PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: BRIGHTON DENEVAN / PORTRAIT: JOHANNA HARLOW
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