In creating the bronze portraits of Native American Indians, Griffin wanted to give a living presence to the sculpture and show the intense emotion in the faces of individuals who have suffered because of the conflict between two cultures. Nobility, pride, courage and great inner strength are ever present in the faces of these descendents of a great civilization. Many lost their lives and those who survived realized that their way of life had changed forever.
Much research is involved after the initial concept of the sculpture.
In the words of David Finn, author of How to Look at Sculpture , he speaks of a sculptor as one who sees with their hands and explores the reality of the world around them. There is a presence in three-dimensional bronze that transcends that world and creates its own aura. As generations pass, even after a thousand years, when the photographs have faded and disappeared, when the sculptor and the sculpted have passed into another world, these bronze sculptures will continue to pay tribute to this great race of Native American Indians who loved this land. Griffin Chiles is a sculptor whose studio is in Norfolk, Virginia. Her career began at an early age and led to a scholarship in sculpture at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.