Charles Morrison 

Artist Statement

“A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” - Marcus Mosiah Garvey

We’ve been here before. Employing clay, print, performance and social practice as my means of communication, I act as a messenger in this current space and time. The messages and stories conveyed within my practice are cultivated through traveling, meditation, research, spending time immersed in nature, and the exploration of Reggae music. This coalescence empowers me to tap into the ancient DNA embedded within us, allowing me to remember a previous time and connect with my ancestral roots.

Deeply inspired by the words of Roots Reggae artists such as; Bob Marley and the Wailers, Peter Tosh, The Abyssinians, Burning Spear, and Buju Baton, I convert Rastafarian teachings of respect, livity, truth and righteousness from songs to visual experiences. By transmuting these spiritual lyrics into physical art, I’m able to generate artifacts that tell stories of our ancestors and encourage our remembrance of their traditions, beliefs, and livelihoods. 

Through a variety of textures, designs, and hand prints, my series of ceramic vessels titled Ancestral Totems, are covered in a vocabulary of mark making that references the ancient civilizations of the world and their means of storytelling. The parietal art, petroglyphs, and earliest pottery of prehistoric civilizations provide great inspiration. Repeated symbols, shapes, marks and textures act as words and phrases within the work. Words like “unity”, “love”, “life” and the phrases “look within”, “we’ve been here before”, “give thanks and praise” and “travel wise my friend” are embedded into these vessels, transforming them into messengers from an ancient time. These totems carry with them the encouragement of our ancestors to remember our roots and culture, remember how to love ourselves and to most importantly, set freedom upon ourselves. 

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