Seascape: Sea of Japan 1997

Hiroshi Sugimoto made this photograph, “Seascape: Sea of Japan,” with a camera, and a very sensitive eye. I'm thinking about this horizon line, smack dab in the middle. How it divides the world – or maybe unites it. It's a question of balance, isn't it? The artist is asking us, what is the relationship between earth and sky? The ocean has a real presence here; the slight undulation of the water is so subtle, almost like breathing. Then above, the sky, with its own vastness, reflecting the water back at itself. You know, it’s like he's saying, "Hey, look, here's what I saw, what I felt. What do you see? What do you feel?" And that, to me, is the real beauty of art, this ongoing conversation. I wonder if Hiroshi was thinking of Barnett Newman when he made this – or maybe Agnes Martin? It's like artists are always in dialogue across time. We are all just inspiring each other, riffing off each other’s energies.