Beth Griffin was born in
Laurens, South Carolina and has lived in New York City since 1985. She
attended the University of South Carolina and the Ringling School of
Art in Florida, and also studied at the International Center of
Photography in New York City. Her work has appeared in many
exhibitions, including solo shows at Cooper Union, the Margaret Bodell
Gallery, and The Viewing Room. She gets around New York City on
rollerblades or bicycle, and swims just about every day.
Artist's Statement
In the spring of 1999, I began
extensive documentation of my dreams. The project consists of over 400
drawings that combine text with images. All drawings are 16" x
20," pencil on museum board, drawn in complete nighttime
darkness. Every night I have a dream is a 473-page
transcription of these scribbled records. The book is separated into
monthly chapters and indexed by the dreams' topics and characters.
Semiconscious, mumbled audio recordings accompany the drawings and
book, further documenting the dream state. These visual and audio
records of my dreams are the basis for my current paintings. The most
powerful dream images are the subject matter of this series of
32" x 40" oil paintings. The final project, currently in
progress, will consist of 20 to 25 paintings. Each canvas can be
cross-referenced to specific drawings and correlating book pages,
providing context for the painted image.
A little about the 3 dreams:
"Saltines"
I'd completely forgotten, till this dream, but two of my grandparents
were farmers. They went to a backwoods Baptist church. The church was
poor, and way out in the country. Once I was there, when small, for a
"Lord's supper" service (holy communion), and they actually
did use saltine crackers, broken up by hand, and passed around in a
plate. I'd completely forgotten this, in my conscious mind, until the
dream.
"Electric Fan"
My dad often invented things. He had seven U.S. patents, so the dream
keeps to his real-life character. The aunt does seem fairly coy, so I
think I was just sensing some of her "extracurricular
activities."
"Swimsuit"
I painted this from the old swimsuit (my mom still had it). I
remember, as a child, that pointy padding terrified me.
