Momentum Spotlight: JP Morrison

JP Morrison, Attempts-At-Seeing-Into-The-Future,Graphite, colored pencil, and acrylic on board, 2010, 14” x 12” 

Featuring young artists ages 30 and younger working in all media in Oklahoma, Momentum OKC opens March 4 & 5.  Three artists were selected as Spotlight artists to develop in-depth projects, Sarah Engel, Alexandra Knox, and JP Morrison.  The artists, who were chosen from proposals, each receive an honorarium of $1,750 and several months of interaction with the curators. This year’s curators are Clint Stone and Erinn Gavaghan.


JP Morrison, Bixby

JP Morrison working in her studio

Project Concept: Mono-no-aware

“Mono-no-aware, is a Japanese term used to describe the bittersweet beauty of impermanence... it [will] be about my private experiences with the feelings of passion, hope and nostalgia, and that it [will] be the most personal narrative I have as yet explored. It is about joy and aching, flaws, lost lovers, past tender experiences, and my volatile journey to find harmony and fulfillment. While this work is significantly personal, the feelings that the installation grew from are universal; they are the effects (gestalt) of living surrounded by the tumult of our shared human experience and are equally poignant for us all,” said Morrison in her proposal.

Artist:

Morrison has exhibited frequently in Oklahoma and Kanas City.  She is a frequent demonstrator and teacher who received her BFA from the Kansas City Arts Institute in Painting and Creative Writing.  While in Kansas City, she curated exhibitions through Grothaus+Pearl Gallery.  She received a “Curators’ Choice Award” at the 2009 Momentum Tulsa and was a finalist for “e-merge” at Bullseye Glass in Portland, OR. Her work will be featured in a solo exhibition in JRB Art at the Elms in September.

JP Morrison working in her studio

Elements:

Morrison will drape a parachute to create a tent for visitors to enter.  Central in the tent, a reliquary will feature self-portrait paintings on boxes with fused glass inset.  Morrison also is creating light bulb “clouds” out of mixed materials. 

Challenges:

Installing her largest work yet, Morrison is confronting logistical challenges of how to how the parachute and creating the lighting environment on the interior.

Momentum OKC 2011 will open March 4 and 5 at the Farmer’s Public Market. Visit www.MomentumOklahoma.org for more information. Read more about the Spotlight artists in the forthcoming issue of Art Focus Oklahoma that will be posted online on March 1.