Gerald Griffin

I want to present an open-sided view of the consequences of American life, both to criticize and find beauty. Ideas about portraiture and identity have continued to influence the evolution of my work.  My desire is to integrate the personal and societal meaningfulness of the images I incorporate within my art. It is important for images to engage me on an emotional level, and consequently, the way I construct a painting or sculpture is representative of my processing of a given image's significance relative to a greater context. I think of works of art as vehicles of communication. One makes a piece imbued with the sensibility of one's own time and sends out into the world to make contact with the future.  Postmodernism defines the realization that nothing is pre-given. Without absolute belief systems artists are free to invent their own. Many artist practice the Modernist inclination towards debasing the belief in beauty as a transcendent experience. I however, strive for an artistic expression that dares to be beautiful, is thought provoking in scope, and values it's audience.