The Earthworks and Mummification paintings date from 1989 to the present. These multi-layered earth paintings and sculptures are charged with a primal spirit, which reflect the artist’s interest in ancient and tribal art. Created using techniques the artist has developed over 35 years with various materials such as earth, sand, or limestone powder, Graff’s works evoke the lands and cultures of the African continent, where he lived for many years.
With a passion for ethnography and paleontology, he works with a primordial material that, for him, is charged with energy and regenerative powers. Using the physical earth from the places where he creates, he demonstrates his commitment to the environment and recalls the deep ancestral connection he has with it. However, the meaning of Graff’s art is not limited to the surface of the object. As in ancestral traditions, an object “charged” with symbolic significance delves into our unconscious, reminding us of the inherent human need to paint. As curator James Putnam wrote: ‘The Mummification paintings feature bound and shrouded items that resemble time capsules or grave goods and include pages from the artist’s diaries, photographs and letters. Graff’s fascination for the ancient artefacts as containers of memory is reminiscent of Freud’s view of archeology as a metaphor for psychoanalysis that involved him digging into his patient’s minds to uncover hidden experiences.’
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