Daniel Seton Coggins

Born into a Navy family in Cyprus, I’ve had the privilege of living in diverse places, from Palo Alto to Cambridge, Newton, New Haven, Boston, New York City and Rimini in Italy, where I spent 28 years before finally moving back to New York City. My journey also includes five transformative years as a Vaishnav Monk, an experience that shaped my worldview and creative process.

I studied Anthropology and Fine Art in college, where my passion for portraiture was ignited through a collage assignment in a Joseph Albers color theory class. I seek to capture the essence of my subject's personality with a pleasing color composition. The use of paper scraps adds an element of unpredictability, infusing each portrait with a dynamic, energetic quality.

In recent years, I have faced the loss of my wife, father, two close friends, my aunt, and my father-in-law. These experiences have made me aware of the fragility and brevity of life. Death reminds us that our time here is limited and underscores the importance of living with purpose. We do not know what comes after, perhaps reincarnation as a blade of grass, so every moment matters.

Painting is my "Dharma", my calling. But I refuse to create work that is shallow or fleeting. 

 "I aim to honor the beauty of God's creation, to copy and highlight that beauty in a way that invites others to see it too".