A souvenir of future landscapes
David Morrison
Ceramic, foraged junk, epoxy, plastidip
Art Dimensions: 12" x 8" x 6"
Exhibition - Iowa Clay Conference | River 2 River
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Artist Statement
Junk Portal
Sparks fly when I encounter a vibrant fragment of waste rendered invisible to the average passerby. With an activated mind, I am drawn to the pops of color, values and forms littering our landscape. With these curious shards I amass a library of refuse. Through a repository of found and made objects, I craft a world that seeks to reveal the value of junk cohabitating with us. Working in the framework of play, my practice utilizes found objects and a multitude of processes rooted in the foundations of the ceramic medium. Through my assembly process I create playful ceramic sculptural objects that speak to our current moment of living in the Anthropocene. Living amid ongoing ecological crises involving pollution and global warming, my sculptures operate as micro landscapes finding alternative ways to view detritus, rehabilitating junk through art and aesthetics. In opposition to the fast pace of our capitalistic society built on convenience and disposability, the assembly process of my work is slow. From foraging to constructing, the unhurried observations in my practice enhance and reinforce the curiosity in the environments I inhabit, as I process the decay, beauty, and toxicity of our waste.
Artist Biography
David Morrison was born and raised in Batavia, IL a western suburb of Chicago. He attended St. Olaf College where he received his B.A. in studio art and a concentration in Asian Studies. Upon graduating he was an artistic intern for the summer and fall of 2019 at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He is a ceramic oriented mixed media artist and earned his MFA at the University of Oklahoma. He is making playful sculptural landscapes that recontextualize foraged junk fragments from junkyards and surrounding environments. He was recently an artist-in-residence at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and exhibited work in the 2024 NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition in Richmond, VA. He is currently the ceramics technician at the University of Hartford.
