Kent Morris Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, b. 1964
A Barkindji man living on Yaluk-ut Weelam Country in Melbourne, Kent Morris graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts and is an alumnus of the National Gallery of Australia's Wesfarmers Indigenous Leadership Program. Central themes in his art practice are the connections between contemporary Indigenous experience and contemporary cultural practices and their continuation and evolution.
By reconstructing the built environment through a First Nations lens, Morris reveals the continuing presence and patterns of Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge in the contemporary Australian landscape, despite ongoing colonial interventions in the physical and political environments.
The interaction of native birds with the built environment reflects resilience, adaption, continuity and change to ecological systems reflecting on the ways in which Indigenous culture survives and adapts.
Morris manipulates structures and nature into new forms that reflect elements of Aboriginal tangible and intangible cultural heritage and reinforce cultural continuity since time immemorial. All Morris' artworks are constructed from a single photograph taken while walking on Country. Apart from basic editing, digital information has not been added or subtracted from the original photograph.
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Kent MorrisCrow, 2017On cotton rag paper150cm x 100cm
Framed size 153.5cm x 103.5cm -
Kent MorrisRainbow Lorikeet, 2017, 2017Cotton rag paper120cm x 82cm (framed size 122.5cm x 82.5cm)
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Kent MorrisRed Wattlebird, 2017, 2017On cotton rag paperPaper size 120cm x 82cm. Framed size 122.5 x 82.5cm
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Kent MorrisSulphur-Crested Cockatoo, 2017, 2017On cotton rag paper150cm x 100cm
Framed size 153cm x 103.5cm
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Underlining the power of communal effort, Kent Morris' work couldn't be more relevant
Kerrie O'Brien, The Sunday Morning Herald, August 19, 2021 -
NAATSIA Awards selects Kent Morris
Will Cox, Broadsheet, Melbourne, June 13, 2019 -
Birds of a feather: Barkindji artist Kent Morris looks to his past on Australian rooftops
C-VILLE Weekly, April 17, 2019