After gaining experience in New York and Los Angeles, Dr. Daniel Barker returned home to Chattanooga, bringing a unique approach with his clinic Wabi-Sabi.
Tell us about yourself.
I went to the University of Virginia and I was there from 2004 to 2013. It was a really great school, and I became really enamored with the field of facial plastics. I did my fellowship at UCLA and I got to work with some of the best facial plastic surgeons in the country and the world.
What's the story behind the name Wabi Sabi?
Obviously, I am a plastic surgeon, but one of things that bothers me is the trying to obtain perfection. I was watching a show on tiny homes and the guy was describing this process in New Zealand of putting together and handcrafting a house he had built. It was a beautiful house and he described it as "wabi-sabi" and I wondered what that meant.
So, I started looking into it and there was a YouTube video of a designer who discusses wabi-sabi and it really just hit home. "Wabi-sabi" is the idea that beauty that comes with age. Things should show their origin and appear natural, not fake. It seemed to me like there wasn’t a really succinct way to say that in the English language.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The thing I enjoy most about my work is having high quality interactions with my patients. I really enjoy helping people with the way they present themselves to the world.
What do you do in your spare time?
I much prefer to be outside. I love working in my yard and gardening. I do whitewater kayaking up the Oconee River and it’s one of my favorite places to go.
For more information about Dr. Barker's practice, visit wabisabi.clinic.
