written by Anna Bird | photo by Pamela Hansen

In the peak of summer in Bandon, Denny Dyke has little attachment to the art he creates in sand. Dyke constructs sand labyrinths— intricate, circular patterns on the beach meant for quiet walking meditations. Circles in the Sand (the name of Dyke’s operation) attracted more than 4,000 people to walk the groomed swirls in 2015. Dyke has no preconceived idea before he starts marking the sand at low tide. It takes him about forty-five minutes to an hour to draw a labyrinth, and then it lasts on the beach for about five hours before tides take it out to sea.