John Meirion Morris - Presence

28 February 2009 - 29 May 2009

John was born in 1936, the son of a shopkeeper in Llanuwchlyn near Bala. He studied at the Liverpool College of Art where he completed postgraduate studies in sculpture. This provided a foundation on which he built his career as a lecturer and artist. He is now recognised as one of Wales’ foremost sculptors.

John is well known for portraying some of Wales’ most distinguished characters, such as children’s author, the late T Llew Jones, the erstwhile National Poet Gwyn Thomas, Gerallt and ‘Gwenallt’. Many of these portrayals can be seen in this exhibition.

In 1966, John moved to Africa where he lectured at Kumasi University in Ghana.  He returned to Wales to lecture, first in Aberystwyth and then in Bangor. His experience in Ghana, and the symbolism, religion and culture of that country inspired John to explore the spirituality in Welsh life.  

“In every image that stirs my imagination I feel a wonderful presence together with a suggestion of great relief. They suggest a spiritual experience I can never explain. This sense of a presence is usually the primary impulse to create. Belief in God is the essence of religion, but, perhaps in the age we live in there is a need to consider that the essence of religion is something internal.

I often feel that the images I see in my mind, and in my imagination, are not only spiritual but that they reflect our needs and concerns today! For instance, I feel they suggest a spiritual experience that needs to be nurtured in this materialistic age – we need a dimension that fosters a civilized perspective on life.”

A strong characteristic that flows through some of John’s sculptures is nature’s battle to survive, a battle which he feels we continue to ignore. Frequently, the essence of these images is a metaphorical female form, a plant or a bird associated with birth, and with a destructive disturbance on, or around them, as in the sculpture Rhiannon.

John’s political consciousness is another feature of his work. This can be seen in the sculpture Cofeb Tryweryn, in which we see a mass of people singing, shouting, protesting and fiercely defying dogma and political oppression. The aspiration to live, and the yearning for freedom permeate the sculpture as does the power of a spiritual vision rising from the waters. This work reflects the worries of life today, together with our yearning for political and religious freedom.

In John’s work there is a fundamental and powerful connection with the Welsh tradition – in its mythological, historical and geographical aspects. This connection permeates several works in this exhibition, and is eminently apparent in works like Cofeb Tryweyn, Lleu, Rhiannon and others.

“I feel the spiritual and archetypal dimension, and I also have a strong aspiration, as a Welshman, to live a life that is linked to the Welsh language and the Welsh tradition in a way that I can never explain exactly. All these things are to be seen and felt in the works that are exhibited here.”

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