Most dog owners are familiar with the spontaneous and vivid reactions of their pets to everything from favorite snacks to a quick-moving squirrel or another dog passing by. Their uninhibited nature and renowned loyalty bring joy, structure, and fun to our lives, often without them realizing their impact on us. For Stephen Morrison, this curiosity and playfulness are channeled into lively and whimsical paintings that, as he puts it, “invite viewers to rediscover the magic and absurdity often obscured by the routine.”
Recently, Morrison’s work has focused on trompe l’œil compositions, where everyday items and scenes unexpectedly feature canine characteristics. A dog’s snout may replace the flap of a handbag or emerge from the side of a Pepsi can. His current solo exhibition, Dog Show #5: Field Recordings at SLAG&RX, highlights objects that reference locations significant to his work—Paris, New York City, and Maine—places that hold personal importance in his life.
Morrison infuses his personal memories and connections into his art, creating a hidden-object style collection of books, foods, photos, and various items. Initially, these tableaux appear to be mere assortments of common objects like vases, fruit, and cameras. However, closer inspection reveals small visages and canine references, such as bones sewn into patchwork backgrounds or the sleepy face of a dog in a starfish’s center and grapes adorned with puppy faces. The dogs’ serene, often sleepy expressions convey a peaceful sweetness and a sense of nostalgia, coupled with abundance.
Through this series, Morrison explores the concept of belonging, reflecting on his childhood in Maine, his decade in New York City, and two months in Paris. Despite his connections to France through marriage and friendships, he admits, “I had never felt at home.” The city’s architectural beauty and its sense of order presented a challenge to his inspiration. This led him to examine the feeling of being disconnected and creatively challenged.
Morrison’s paintings include French elements like toile de jouy, an 18th-century fabric design featuring pastoral scenes, while Maine is depicted through patchwork quilts he co-created with his mother, who stitched them before they became part of his artwork. “By bringing the objects and backgrounds into my dog world, I’ve rewritten my external material world through this lens, creating a new and more uniquely personal vision of these places,” he explains.
This summer, Morrison will be an artist-in-residence at BUoY in Tokyo, where he plans to incorporate Japanese textiles into a new series of paintings. He is also gearing up for a pop-up solo exhibition at Lazy Mike Gallery in Seoul and a group exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary. Dog Show #5: Field Recordings is on display in New York until March 28. More of Morrison’s work can be found on his Instagram.
