Artist: John Meirion Morris

Artist’s Statement

John Meirion Morris is one of Wales’ foremost sculptors, with his work in private and public collections worldwide. He was born in 1936, as the son of a shop keeper in Llanuwchlyn, near Bala. He admits that the social and cultural influence of his birth place is a great inspiration within his work.

As a student he attended the Liverpool College of Art, where he received training in the classics, with a strong emphasis on life drawing and modelling. He stayed another year to complete a ‘Post Graduate’ degree, before taking his Certificate of Education at the same university in 1961.

He started his teaching career in Llanidloes where he stayed for three years. In 1964, he received a lecturing post at Leamington Spa Art School, but two years later, decided to move to Africa where he lectured at Kumasi University in Ghana. The African experience has stayed with him since. Witnessing sculpture steeped in symbolism, religion and culture reminded him very much of the importance of traditional aspects within Welsh poetry and the singing form of cerdd dant.

In 1968 he returned to Wales as a Sculpture and Education lecturer at Aberystwyth University. At this time he also designed sets and directed plays with students at ‘Theatr y Werin’. After 11 years of lecturing at Aberystwyth, he gave up the post to concentrate on his art work. However, the desire to teach was still strong, and John returned as head of the art department at ‘Coleg Normal’, Bangor. He finally retired in 1990 and has since been a full time sculptor of great following.