AFTERMATH

On October 7th, Sam Griffin was drafted as a reserve combat soldier in the wake of the Simchat Torah massacre. He spent time securing Kibbutzim and Yishuvim in the Gaza Envelope, before entering Gaza itself. While on active duty on the Israel/Gaza border near Rafiah, Griffin began to produce sketches as a way to process the recent atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, and to document his time in the army. Some of these sketches are from direct observations of his surroundings, while others are taken from the barrage of horrifying images that flooded his phone.

Since being discharged from active duty, Griffin has used his time in the studio to internalize and integrate his experiences as a soldier returning to civilian life. What at first glance seem to be landscape paintings of southern Israel, are in fact snapshots from the first weeks of the war from Griffin’s perspective as a soldier. The views of expansive horizons on the border between Israel, Egypt and Gaza - views that Griffin would stare at while on guard duty.