Seren
Morey

Process

My interests derive from nature, both microscopic and macroscopic. The most recent works have evolved into biological and botanical hybrids that develop a life of their own, dark and brooding, but with a nod to humor and beauty. Repetitions of patterns that present themselves through fractals and other forms reflect the ordered and connected condition of all matter visible and invisible. My work is meant to reflect the energy that is always present beneath the surface of our perception, from the constant movement of our internal organs, to the spinning of atoms, planets and galaxies within the universe. Birth, growth, decay and death are a cyclical pattern in which we all participate. I often make images that appear as fossil-like patterns of ancient organisms to highlight the continual genetic and cellular connection between past, present and future. I am also interested in how amorphous emotions can form physical neurological networks within the brain. Neural networking patterns that evolve into tendrils from some seemingly aquatic creature are ever-present in an integration of vulnerability with science. I sometimes feel that I am creating biologically inspired self-portraits and internal landscapes, or even landscapes from some alternate sci-fi world. Topographical maps, where conscious morphs with subconscious, giving form to unremembered memories and potential fears of the unknown. Bringing fears to the surface makes them more palatable and evokes our condition of perpetual non-understanding of the origins of life. All of the work ideally reflects the fantastical yet scientific, never to be understood, mystery of our existence-from what happens in the nucleus of an atom with the appearance and disappearance of quarks and gluons, to the foreboding presence of dark matter surrounding all galaxies and pushing them apart at rapid rates. The dichotomy of the complex beauty in flowers and other natural forms in contrast to frightening things like images of viruses and the looming presence of natural disasters and dark space, speak to what I am trying to capture in my work.

The physical process of creating the work may begin with the cutting and sewing of canvas to create an underlying armature with qualities of transparency and vulnerability. The material I use is called Ultralight and is a sculptural acrylic made with micro glass balloons for a lightweight body. I thicken and color the paint base with pigment dispersions and stretch and pull it like taffy or extrude it through a pastry bag. Sometimes I will add painted or drawn details on the surface of the paint. There are areas of a very reflective water based urethane meant to suggest windows to an internal space. Puddles of glass beads also serve as a reflective element that may function simultaneously as eggs or geological formations. Finally, the acrylic itself is sometimes sewed, possibly as an effort to repair wounds.