Artist Statement of Marc Morris

As an artist, I struggle between what is beautiful and what is right. Like all artists, I am concerned with beauty. What makes it up, how is it represented and why is it important. But I also have this larger obligation. It is my duty to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Artists are responsible for drawing attention to the areas in society that others either don�t notice or choose not to see.

Though I have created works in a variety of media, from printmaking to sculpture, my oeuvre rests primarily in photography following the examples of Robert Frank, Sebastiao Salgado and Diane Arbus. These three artists photographed the depressed, repressed, and the people on the fringes of society, the exact demographics that I feel need to be represented in our society.

Through my art, I open the lines of communication by direct activism. I have worked with people living with HIV, metal instabilities, and victims of hate. I offer no answers in my work, just questions. By asking those questions, I am soliciting answers. I am awakening people from their complacent state, which our social climate has lulled them into.



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In my other work, I have delved into self exploration by using myself as a subject of my work as well as other models, portraying both the physical beauty of the human form and the mental pain and suffering of growing up gay in America.