Alexander Morris, Artist

By Jennifer Coates

There is something deeply meaningful and representational about symbiotic relationships, those often unexplainable and sometimes paradoxical relationships between two different organisms which are advantageous to both species. Such interconnected relationships exist everywhere, from the depths of the ocean to the wilds of nature, to the sacred space between man and God, to the musty studio where an artist and a blank canvas become one.

For Alexander Morris, a Utah born and bred artist who now resides in Rumford, symbiotic relationships have inspired him his whole life, and have illuminated his paths as a man, a father, and an artist. As a boy, growing up under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, he was a student of how these relationships thrived between the most unlikely of creatures - the high-flying raven and the stealthy wolf who work in unison to find their food sources; the secretive sea anemone and the colorful clownfish who work in tandem to provide shelter and nutrients. Beyond nature are the deeper, more spiritual connective relationships that have guided Alex his whole life. Those symbiotic relationships that exist between chaos and order, passion and logic, man and woman ~ these all find expression in his art. The most important such relationship explored by Alex in his work is the relationship between his mortal being and the heavenly being he places his faith in. This relationship informs literally every piece of his art and has manifested itself on every canvas he has touched ~ whether it is a canvas stretched taut on a wooden frame or a sketch pad where he has doodled an animated drawing of his three-year old daughter Rhiannon. Inter-connection is personified in Alexander Morris’s art, and you can feel it when you see it and feel it when you are immersed in it.

Alexander always knew that art would be his life’s passion, second only to the love he has for his wife Angie and two daughters, Rhiannon and 10-month old Iona. From the time he was a young boy, he knew he could “draw what he saw.” He loved imitating his favorite cartoon characters from Calvin & Hobbes (perhaps fooling Bill Watterson himself!) and later thrived as a student at the University of Utah, where he received his BFA with a focus in painting and drawing.

In high school, an advanced placement class opened his mind to painting, a love which has determined his main medium to this day: acrylic paint. Alex makes his own paint, using compounds and ink or powder pigments to

Local artist Alexander Morris, seen here with some of his original artwork, was a featured guest at the Attleboro Arts Festival, August 2021

create unique colors that he then documents and uses throughout his work. When he paints his series, these colors often become a common element that unites them into a cohesive storyline. His colors are bold, vibrant, and noisy one moment, and the next, they are muted, quiet, contemplative. When applied on a canvas, they come alive, moving, and undulating one moment, pacifying and soothing the next.

As an artist, Alexander is not content with just experimenting with colors, hues, textures, and techniques. He becomes consumed by his subject matters, spending hours researching topics of interest which he later captures on canvas. His thirst for knowledge might be called insatiable, for it is here where he discovers his great sources of creative energy. He is a pupil of all forms of ancient languages such as hieroglyphics and the often-indecipherable letters of old documents. He finds endless inspiration in them and they appear on many of his finished pieces, becoming one of his signature design features.

Alexander Morris’s work is categorized as “nonrepresentational art” ~ for the layperson, that is a fancy word for an “abstract” painter/artist. While Alex might be labeled a “Contemporary Abstraction” artist, labels don’t concern him. He is a classically trained artist who can take what is in his mind and in his dreams, and bring it to life in swathes of color, movement, dimension, intensity, small details, and large statements.

One painting of the series ”Listen” by Alexander Morris

Each creation tells a story. Alex encourages those who see his work to truly “experience” it, to listen to what the painting is saying. Beyond this, he encourages them to feel what they see, to literally hearken to how these paintings move them.

Followers of Morris’s art will recognize his unique style in some of his long-curated series such as his “Listen” series, his “Father” series, his “Key” series, and his “Voyage” series. These series are personal to him, as are each of his creations. They are worth a trip to any gallery, any exhibit, any place where they are hung to behold.

Alexander’s work was recently featured in the “8 Visions” show at the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, Mass. He joined seven other talented artists from around the region; Morris is counted among the best of them.

To see more of Alexander Morris’s work, you can visit him at www.alexandermorrisart.com. He is also happy to receive Direct Messages on Instagram, where he can be found at _wolfbird (a nickname from childhood referencing the raven and the wolf, an exquisite symbiotic partnership!)