An artist reaches out to his audience with tactile creations.
By: Josh Appelbaum
There isn’t anything typical about Drew Griffiths’ art, but perhaps the most unique thing the artist encourages patrons to do is to reach out and touch his work.
"Go ahead and touch it," Mr. Griffiths said Monday, while hanging his exhibit at the Gourgaud Gallery. "They aren’t 120 years old yet."
But then again, the pieces, all of which are done on ¾-inch plywood sheets measuring 32 inches by 48 inches, just beg to be felt. The 27-year-old artist, who has been painting for 10 years, uses mostly liquefied wax, lighter fluid and a blowtorch to create his decidedly abstract paintings.
Mr. Griffiths, a graduate of Roger Williams University and the owner of ADK design firm on Route 130 in Cranbury, creates his artwork in his garage.
He uses melted, colored solid wax, various applicators and fire sources (and in one instance, a hatchet) to change the texture of the canvases, a medium generally referred to as caustics.
"The boiling wax doesn’t smell very good," Mr. Griffiths said. "And I burn myself a lot. I always have to keep a fire extinguisher on hand."
Mr. Griffiths said he uses things like screwdrivers, blades and other edges to apply the wax to the plywood, and tries to use paintbrushes as little as possible.
"I don’t like brush strokes," Mr. Griffiths said. "I usually use a palette knife brushes don’t last very long when you’re working with wax."
He describes his art as avant-garde, and has shown his work in unusual venues throughout the Northeast.
"A venue is a venue," Mr. Griffiths said. "I’ve shown work at parties and in nightclubs and lounges in Providence, (R.I.), Brooklyn, (N.Y.) and Boston (Mass.). It’s good to expose people to art in different settings."
Mr. Griffiths said he is "out of the gallery circuit" but was encouraged by his neighbor and landlord Janet Paxton, who is a freelance photographer for The Cranbury Press, to submit his work for consideration to the Gourgaud Gallery.
He admits that the titles applied to his work are arbitrary he doesn’t like to title his work because one painting could express a range of emotions or ideas but at least one of his favorite works in the show is aptly titled "Blackbird."
"When you title a work, I don’t believe people bring enough of their own experience to the art," Mr. Griffiths said.
"Blackbird," Mr. Griffiths said, is comprised of several layers of wax, and it is this technique that gives each of his works a unique look.
"Some of the movement in the painting is taken from migration patterns," Mr. Griffiths said.
He said he primes each piece of plywood with a base layer of wax. The wood absorbs most of the first layer of wax and once it dries, he builds layers.
"Sometimes it comes together at the last minute, after I’ve put on eight, 10, 12 layers of wax, and stripped off some other pieces of wax," Mr. Griffiths said. "It’s when I’ve achieved the right color and texture that I know it’s done."
Because most of Mr. Griffiths’ art supplies come from a tool shed rather than from a palette, he said the creation of the artwork is just as exciting as the pieces themselves.
"Someone said to me, ‘you know, you should do your stuff as performance art,’" Mr. Griffiths said.
When asked about his feelings on exhibiting in a more formal setting, Mr. Griffiths said he’s happy to show his work in any venue.
"I don’t like to stick with any one thing and I don’t think it hurts to try something new or even fail," Mr. Griffiths said. "I take it seriously and I hope people like it. But it’s okay if they don’t. That’s fine."
Today (Friday) the Arts Review Committee will host a First Friday Reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gourgaud Gallery. The show will run until May 29. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. An additional reception will be held on May 20.

