A Day in the Yard

DarRen Morris paints from his memories, his spirituality and his current life inside one of Wisconsin’s maximum-security prisons. He sees the world through pattern and color and light despite being in a place that lacks a full pallet of hues. He has no formal artistic training, so his styles range greatly. He will paint on any surface available, including cardboard. He must paint. It is his way of enduring his life sentence (given at age 17). In prison, he is limited to student grade acrylics and some pastels. He can never stand more than four feet from his work to gain perspective. He paints from his African Jamaican and Rastafarian roots. He often paints semi self-portraits because there are no models for his portraits inside.When asked why he paints, he responds, “Why do I paint? It is a hard question to answer. It is like, how does a fish breathe in water? I paint because I must. I cannot say when I began my attraction to art because as long as I can remember it has always been a part of me. It goes back so far that I cannot trace it to a particular point. Shapes and colors have always stood out to me. As a kid, I really didn’t talk a lot. I had a hearing impairment that hadn’t been treated yet, but I didn’t know I heard differently. So for me, my experience of the world was always based on mostly what I saw. Colors and shapes just always stood out. I remember the world visually. As a boy, every opportunity I got I would be sketching and drawing, although I did not know then that there were actual Black artists. Art is innate for me; it is deeply ingrained into who I have always been. Now, in prison, it is my survival.”

Bio:
I am a 47-year-old son, brother, father, grandfather, painter and published author who adheres to the Rastafari way of life.I’m often asked where does my art come from, what’s my inspiration? I’ve struggled to answer because I didn’t want to so bluntly state the truth. To understand we must go back in time. When I was a teen, I began to show signs of mental illness, drug use and gangs. My family moved to Green Bay in an effort to save me. At the age of 17, I participated in a crime that led to the loss of an innocent life.I was physically disabled (bilateral hearing loss), mentally ill, emotionally unstable, biologically unable to fully comprehend the consequences of my actions. As a result, I was tried, convicted, and sentenced to die on Wisconsin’s version of death row. I’ve become an artist that uses my art to show the world my journey and to give you an unbiased look into the soul of a man who has spent 30 years turning every prison cell into my own personal art studio. Darren Morris is represented by Colleen Brulla.