Myths in Clay
The Artwork of Beth Greenleaf
Artist statement
A Focus On Folklore
Beth Greenleaf (born 1993, Pennsylvania USA) utilizes myth making to explore the human experience, often referencing grief and chronic illness. Through the use of hybridism, folkloric life, and the deification of human instincts, she crafts pantheons and beasts that are born of encounters through dreams. She views the pieces much like the living stories seen in folklore. Each piece has a tale- the story is given life as it’s told, death when it ends, and is reborn by the next storyteller.
The artists work deals heavily with ritual, both in the making and in the purpose of the pieces. Her functional wares in particular are made with the purpose of becoming an integral part of the users daily ritual, and through that given life of their own beyond the stories they represent directly.
Beth creates narratives through the tactile nature of clay; allowing for a physical, visual, and sometimes functional experience of these supernatural stories.
Her practice engages with the idea of clay as an allegory for the flesh of creatures that dwell in the realm of dreams and the liminal spaces of our world.
Beth invites the viewer to become the next storyteller, and partake in the rebirth.