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William Morris (b. 1957) American RAVENS, 1998 Blown glass Each piece: Height 14 inches Width 14 inches Depth 7 inches Museum purchase with funds provided by the James F. Dicke Family, 1998.85 |
A native of California, William Morris studied ceramics at California State
University in Chico, but it was a truck driving job that marked the beginning of
his true calling. On moving to Seattle in 1978, Morris drove a truck for the
renowned Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. He became an apprentice of the school's founder, Dale Chihuly, the figure perhaps most responsible for reviving and redefining the art of glassmaking in America. After ten years of
experience, Morris traveled to Venice, Italy, to learn the demanding techniques
of sculpting with glass.
Raven is a product of Morris's mastery of this highly specialized art, as
well as a manifestation of his elemental vision. As a glass sculpture, this
piece would have begun - like any work of blown glass - on a pipe. After
forming a thick-skinned bubble with a few puffs through the pipe, Morris rolled,
pushed and pulled the molten form into its recognizable shape. Here, an elegant
raven is the result, captured with uncanny realism in the act of eating a glass
minnow. Eschewing the typical slick, reflective surfaces of glass, Morris
instead produces a complex matte finish.
Morris, who eventually became Pilchuck's artistic director, is known for works
that explore aspects of nature and culture; he creates both animals and
artifacts that seem drawn from some primordial mythic experience. Indeed, the
raven is a crucial figure in traditional Northwest Coast culture. Although
credited with creating the world, Raven is also known in Native American lore as
a trickster and a hoarder, and as a resilient, complex character full of
surprise. Morris, however, doesn't aim for illustration. "All I do is create
objects from ordinary life," he said. "The real myth is that nature subjects
itself upon us every day, whether we know it or not."
Eileen Carr
SUGGESTED READING:
James Yood, Tina Oldknow, Robert Vinnedge and C. W. Guildner. William Morris: Animal/Artifact. New York: Abbeville Press, 2001.
