"I spend a lot of time walking, as much as I can find. Things seem simpler at these times, during this year. I notice each step and each breath while lured into stories then returning. The ridges, the coastal edges, mountains or the streets, they all work. I notice the colours in the sky and on the water's surface, stronger colours and especially the coloured greys in between. They change, change constantly. Colour follows light, light follows colour; opens the opportunity to directly encounter light and colour in space." Simon Morris, September 2020

Simon Morris presents new work that continues to investigate the action of painting. These works are grounded in time, space and context and act as a visual and material record of that action. The paintings react to light with the reflective surface both revealing and concealing colour, synchronised with the viewer's movement. Gravity is an essential part of the process, dispersing pigment over time creating edge and shape. The same system has been used in each work, however shifts in format, scale, colour and resolution create experiential readings in time and space.

Simon Morris is a contemporary artist based in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand where he lectures in painting at Whiti O Rehua School of Art, Massey University. His work is concerned with the perception of space, time and action through visual systems, which he explores through a diverse painting practice that includes site responsive wall painting, conceptual abstract artworks and architectural collaboration. His most recent wall drawing project Yellow Ochre Room 2015, was commissioned by Christchurch Art Gallery New Zealand. In 2017 he was awarded the Fulbright Wallace scholarship, participating in the artist in residence programme at Headlands Centre for the Arts in San Francisco. He has participated in many international group exhibitions and his work is held in the collections of Chartwell, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Victoria University, Wellington Wellington City Council Art Collection and Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton.

Press release courtesy Two Rooms.