Mel Griffin

Artist Statement

I have faith in the natural world’s ability to fill us with a sense of wonder, to elevate our minds and spirits, and to reinvigorate our reverence for life.

I have faith in art’s capacity to remind us of our own humanity, about which we so often seem to forget.

Making and drawing allow me to investigate fluid and profound relationships between the body, material, and landscape, both inside the home and out in the world. Through imagery and metaphor, line and clay, I am exploring the manner in which mindfulness, memory, and mood combine to create meaning in both everyday and imagined environments.

-- Mel Griffin

Bio

Mel Griffin received her BA from Carleton College in 2001 and her MFA from the University of Minnesota in 2011. She has since been a resident artist at Medalta International in Alberta, Canada, a visiting professor at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN, and won the 2011 Leap Award from the Society of Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA. After spending two years as a long term resident at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT she decided to make Montana her home. She currently lives and works in the Scratchgravel Hills, an area full of prickly pear cactus, jack rabbits, and coyotes. While not in the studio, she enjoys trail running with her dog and searching for wildlife.