Internationally acclaimed for his compelling work with glass, William Morris has blazed a trail in the American Studio Glass Movement for his unique ability to imbue his sculptures with a sense of alluring mystery, suspended time, and ancestral oneness with the natural world. 

William Morris: Early Rituals presents a selection of works created by the artist from the mid-1980s to early 1990s—a time during which Morris experimented with innovative glassblowing techniques, ancient forms, and dazzling surfaces as he honed his poetic vision. These works are a prelude to the sculptural works of the following two decades which garnered him international acclaim as a glass artist.

William Morris was born in Carmel, CA in 1957. In his youth, he often went hiking, rock climbing, and camping near the rugged coast of central California. Morris would encounter traces of past human and animal existence while wandering in nature—arrowheads, pottery shards, bones and antlers. The impact of coming upon burial sites and archeological remains was profound. These moments opened a window in his imagination and ignited a reverence for past cultures—an awe for those who came before us and were deeply connected to the land. 

In 1978, he arrived at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA where he worked on Dale Chihuly’s team as chief gaffer for almost a decade. During these formative years, Morris developed unique approaches and techniques by working with teaching artists from all over the world. He also traveled to Europe and studied with maestri del vetro in Murano. His passion for travel brought him to the Orkney islands in Scotland, where he saw the monoliths of pre-Celtic times punctuating the barren landscape. The wonderment felt before these monuments, erected by people millennia ago as a testament to their beliefs and rituals, went to inform the works shown in this gallery.

The Standing Stones were created by gathering on the blowpipe up to 60 pounds of molten glass. This enormous, viscous, red-hot bubble was then lowered into a wooden mold where once blown it would expand to fill the hollow space. Smoke and steam would pour out and envelope the glassblowing team. In an atmosphere reminiscent of a primitive ritual, the making of the Standing Stones embodied the feeling of being here. Like the enigmatic monuments left behind by prehistoric people, Morris created artifacts that would extend and suspend time. Unlike the stone of the monoliths, the glass of Morris’ sculptures expresses intrinsic fragility and humbleness.

Like the Standing Stones, the Urns—suspended, semi-transparent pouches containing human remains such as skulls and bones—and the Garnerings provide for the viewer a moment of human connection across time. Rather than a morbid admonition of our transient nature, the Urns celebrate our oneness with Nature, to which we ultimately return. 

More than a funerary lamentation, the works featured in this exhibition can be seen as traces, or remnants, of the joyous ritual of glassblowing, which celebrates at once the fragility of glass and the lasting memory of breath. Morris’ poetics of a timeless communion with the mysteries of life and Nature is among the greatest contributions to art by a contemporary artist.

Morris’ work can be found in numerous public collections including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; American Glass Museum, Millville, NJ; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido, Japan; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France; Auckland Museum, Auckland, New Zealand; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.