1030 - Sculpture ''Suspende Artifact'' William Morris, 1993 Mould-blown glass with glass powder melting. Metal stand. 43 x 50.5 cm (with base). William Morris studied at California State University and Central Washington University. In 1978, he met Dale Chihuly at the Pilchuck Summer School in Seattle and became his glassblower. During this time, Morris experimented with surface texture, with the drawing technique on glass and with the shaping of glass in wood-carved models, which often gave his objects the unusual shapes. In collaboration with his friend Jon Ombrek, they also developed drawing techniques on glass and executed them to perfection. Morris sought inspiration in nature, initially roaming his native forests and mountains of California, looking for artifacts of bygone times, such as arrowheads, pottery shards. He has a deep interest in ancient civilizations, their primitive tools or rituals. He himself is a hunter who kills his prey with bow and arrow. Among the many things that inspire him are Stonhenge, the cave paintings of Lascaux and the landscape of the Orkney Islands. His glass works reflect this strong interest. Morris creates archaeological scenarios in glass by assembling skulls, bones or antlers, weapons and tools that are reminiscent of the cultures of the indigenous peoples of America and Africa, the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Greeks. His works make no claim to historical or anatomical accuracy. Rather, he is concerned with the mystical powers that the human or animal remains radiate. Lit.: Mitchell Beazley, Artists in Glass 2001, p. 152 ff.