Alexander Hraefn Morris has a thing for ravens – they are a sort of totem, a recurrent, though abstracted figure in many of his paintings. It’s not surprising, then, that “Hraefn” translates to “raven” from the Old English and that Yorkshire, England, is where Morris recently moved and now contentedly lives and works, while continuing to show at Howa Gallery in Bountiful.

“I have always been artistically inclined and have been exploring the vast ideas within the spectrum of abstraction since my early teens. I enjoy where it brings my mind and the freedom of interaction it grants my audience,” he writes in an email. “I am attracted to line work, color fields and the relationship between color and space, predominantly as they relate to the shape of the human soul: body and spirit. My lines, carved through cracking paint, represent existence and struggle; this life; the experience of living; dealing with chaos; trying to find order in the chaos.”

In 2016, he writes, he will be continuing to expound on these concepts. “I am excited to start my first new series here in the UK; the stark difference of colours, scents, and general ambiance of my new home is extremely inspiring.” He adds that he doesn’t as yet have a studio set up, but shared some images of paintings that best represent where his work is going.

“Desura” 36″ x 36″

Ann Poore

A graduate of the University of Utah, Ann Poore is a freelance writer and editor who spent most of her career at The Salt Lake Tribune. She was the 2018 recipient of the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Artist Award in the Literary Arts.