Artist Response 1: William Morris

William Morris’ glass pieces are quite astounding.  Glass art has always been interesting to me, but Morris takes the art to another level.  His attention to detail and incredible use of color really bring the pieces to life.  He seems to bring his personal interest of nature into his work, and it results in a very harmonious flow through much of his work.  His sculptures of animals were particularly astounding to me, in that he is able to work the glass in such detail when it’s hot and molten.  His work spans many genres of art as well.  Many other glass blowers have a particular style or genre that defines them, but Morris’ pieces are all so completely different from one another, many of them don’t even seem to be made from glass at all.  Some of his pieces look as if they could be from the stone age, and others from hundreds of years in the future.  His interest in archaeology can be clearly seen in much of his work where he gives tribute to past cultures.  It seems like there is a wider theme throughout his work of the relationship of humans and their environment, and how they affect each other.  He also has done a lot of work with human and animal skulls, which ties in with a theme of life and death in nature.  His work can definitely be looked at from many different angles and interpreted many different ways.