Chris Coffin is a surfer, ocean lifeguard, and open water swimmer. He is a two time New York Foundation on the Arts grant recipient, a Rema Hort Mann grant nominee, and a Fulbright Scholarship nominee. He has been reviewed in the New York Times, Addict Magazine, Long Island Newsday, The New Haven Independent, and the Williamsburg/Greenpoint News+Arts. His work has been lectured on at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Coffin resides in Connecticut with his family, and creates his work in and around the waterways of Brooklyn, Long Island, and the New England Coast.

"The water has always inspired Chris Coffin. Influenced by his childhood on Long Island and his background as a lifeguard, swimmer and surfer, his overall body of work is comprised of a wide variety of media including photography, video, installation, performance and drawing. For his window installation, Coffin expands upon a current drawing series, Islands and Coastlines, in which he depicts the water’s edge in rippling, repetitive graphite lines reminiscent of waves, seismic maps and electrocardiograms. In order for Coffin to draw an area, he must have first experienced that stretch of coastline either by swimming, kayaking or surfing the distance. The final drawing, which appears as a bird’s eye view, is in fact tracing the artist’s path. It documents his personal connection to the water and the space where ocean meets land. He uses the languages of science, cartography and technology to create relationships with nature while addressing his own autobiographical history and geography."

Heather Darcy Bhandari: Former Director of Exhibitions, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY - Gallery Director of Mixed Greens Gallery, NYC