William MorrisRed and Black Shard Vessel Handblwon Contemporary Glass Art

Artist: William A. Morris
Title: Red and Black Shard Vessel
Medium: Hand Blown Glass
Size: 14 1/2" 14 1/2" x 5"
Signed: Signed "William Morris" and dated "1984" on bottom edge
Year: 1984
Condition: Very good condition
Documentation: Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

William Morris is an American leading glass sculptor. After working as the chief gaffer in the Chihuly workshop, Morris left to develop his now renowned artistic style. His glasswork uniquely imitates ancient carved stones and woodwork. He creates hauntingly evocative and beautiful pieces that embrace mythology, ancestry, and history.

Informed primarily by ancient civilizations such as Egyptian, Asian, and other indigenous cultures, Morris embodies spirituality in his works. His glasswork differs from modern and contemporary glasswork as it highlights the harmony between nature and the spiritual world around us. Furthermore, Morris uses a unique technique of rich color and acid wash to make his pieces look older than they are.

Red and Black Shard Vessel is a hauntingly evocative and beautiful glass sculpture. The various patterns and colors—purples, reds, oranges, blues, yellows, blacks—of the piece recall a world often forgotten, ignored, or abused. Furthermore, the glasswork embodies Morris's approach of spiritualism juxtaposed with modernity.

Red and Black Shard Vessel includes a gallery certificate of authenticity. The work is signed “William Morris” and dated “1984” on the bottom edge. Furthermore, the artwork is in very good condition.

About William Morris

William Morris was born in Carmel, California in 1957. He is an American glass artist who has been able to change the history of art within his lifetime. Morris was educated at California State University in Chico, California as well as Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. In 1978, Morris arrived at the Pilchuck Glass School and found work initially as a driver. Later, he worked with Dale Chihuly, the founder of the school, and eventually became his chief gaffer in the 1980s. Morris remained with Chihuly for about 10 years before deciding to form his own studio and develop his own artistic style of glass blowing.

For more than twenty-five years, William Morris has captivated and intrigued the art community with hauntingly evocative and beautiful glass sculptures. He has captured the imagination time and again by creating objects that appear to be ancient stone or woodcarvings, not the modern glass sculptures they actually are. His art speaks of human origins, myth, ancestry, and ancient civilizations. It symbolizes a harmony between humanity and nature and provides a ghost-like bond to the world around us – a world that is often forgotten, ignored, and abused.

Morris gathers much of his inspiration from ancient cultures from around the world – Egyptian, Asian, Native American – all peoples who respected and admired the land they inhabited. Because of this, Morris’s artwork has become something all its own: culturally distinct and yet familiar to all cultures. His pieces embody a spiritual quality that sharply contrasts old beliefs with those of the modern world. These objects speak to our senses and continuously beg us to explore them further.

Morris achieved much success during his career and retired in 2007. He spent over twenty-five years honing his skills and pushing the medium of glass further than anyone, including himself, could ever have imagined.