Morwenna Morrison’s intention within her art practice is to encourage a discourse around time through paint.
She is drawn to how people represent themselves and their environments across the ages—how historical fashions evolve, sometimes imperceptibly, giving each era its own distinct style.
Morrison aims to transform the historical into a contemporary experience by introducing interventions that create a dialogue comparing and contrasting ideas about time. These interventions take the form of colorful blocks, line drawings, blurring, tints, or painted photographic inserts. Viewers’ attention is drawn to the similarities or differences between the elements, bringing a quirky irreverence to the solemnity of classicism.
Her work treats landscape and portraiture less as topographical records or physical representations and more as states of mind—a projection of desire over truth. It highlights how visual and social perception, as well as morality, have evolved—or remained unchanged.
The intrusive elements she introduces into the landscapes represent either a physical presence, a veil between past and present, or contemporary transgressions into the countryside. These transgressions manifest not only through housing developments and infrastructure but also through pesticides and pollution, reminding viewers of the cultural and technological distance from earlier generations.
