​​ARTIST STATEMENT

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I am a painter and printmaker based in Houston, Texas. Most of the concepts within my work are themes that have been present throughout my life, including the materials I use. Watercolor for instance, is a medium I have been using for almost a decade. Growing up, I developed a fondness for stories and myths, and how they mattered to the people of their day. I also became interested in mysteries, which evolved into an exploration in historical esoteric and occult practices. All these aspects make their way into my current work, and I apply whatever I learn into it and myself. My paintings and prints are filled with elements relating to my childhood, self-identity, magic, and nature. I want my work to be a better reflection of myself than anything I could say. ‘Hiraeth’ is a word that describes a longing for a place, people, or experience that never existed or existed in the past. The scenes I create contain references to experiences, places, and people within my life. The past is an important part of the work I create, both my own and history. I want to create new ways of thinking for old ideas and personalize them to fit in my life.

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BIOGRAPHY

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Michael Morris was born on April 30, 2002, in Beaumont, Texas. His family moved to Houston when he was 4 years old, where he still lives today. Michael started drawing as a child with his father at the coffee table in the family living room. He had always enjoyed creating his own creatures and stories based on the media he was exposed to. Many of his drawings were influenced by books, cartoons, and stories he heard from adult figures in his life. By the time he was in middle school, he began making his own books where he illustrated creatures he learned from different stories around the world. Science was also an influential aspect in Michael’s life, who was often placed in NASA summer camps and regularly looked at the solar system through the family telescope. In his early college career, Michael discovered an interest in historic esoteric practices, namely Hermeticism and its sister sciences, alchemy and astrology. He spent the last two years of his degree plan learning what he could relating to folklore, religion, science, and magic, which have become core concepts within his work. Today, Michael is a recent graduate from the University of Houston Clear Lake and intends to apply for master’s programs in 2026.