Dancing on the Water
The first wave wasn’t perfect, but it was mine. I paddled into it like a heartbeat—steady, urgent, alive. As it lifted me, everything else fell away. No shore, no sound, no body even—just a blur of sunlight fractured across the water’s skin. I stood, knees loose, arms wide like I was balancing on breath.
The board wove its line across the wave’s shimmering face, and I moved with it—part instinct, part improvisation, all surrender. The ocean didn’t ask questions; it just offered rhythm. I remember the salt hitting my lips, the wind curling around my hair, the way time stretched and folded, like a tide pulling memory taut.
For a moment, I wasn’t surfing—I was dancing. Not above the water, but with it. My feet sketching arcs across liquid light, like the sea was teaching me a language I’d always known but never spoken aloud.
Jamie Martinez • him/his • New York
Jamie Martinez is a Colombian-born interdisciplinary artist whose work explores colonialism, labor, and indigenous spirituality through painting, sculpture, and installation. He has exhibited internationally and been featured in major media outlets, with works held in prominent museum, corporate, and private collections worldwide.
