While I'm Away

Shatto Gallery is pleased to present While I’m Away, an exhibition of new works by multi-disciplinary artist, Rocky Morton. Known primarily for his work in filmmaking, Morton makes a striking return to his roots in painting, exploring the depths of human experience through his unique artistic lens. 

Drawing from his deep fascination with science and the essence of humanity, Morton’s latest works stand apart, in their inspiration and innovative creation process. Employing a fresh approach, Morton uses a leaf blower to propel strings of paint—mixed with a unique elastic ingredient—across the canvas. This technique results in delicate, thread-like patterns, reminiscent of mycelium, the fungal networks that connect all living plants and trees, bringing a touch of nature’s unpredictability into his art.

“Morton finds beauty in division – his colored paintings thrill with outpourings of intense hues, all assigned to their own regions yet struggling to oppose and at the same time embrace, even merge with, one another” - says Peter Frank, art critic and curator. 

At the heart of While I’m Away is the theme of universal connection. Morton’s paintings seek to transcend the familiar, venturing into uncharted territory, where the tangible world meets the infinite. Some pieces present literal interpretations, horizons where existence seems to emerge from nothingness, while others evoke the complex interconnectedness of the universe, akin to the synapses in the brain or fields of energy reminiscent of string theory.