Locky Morris

Locky Morris lives and works in his native Derry, Northern Ireland. He studied at the University of Ulster, Belfast and Manchester Polytechnic in England from 1979 to 1983, and his early work explicitly dealt with the conflict in Northern Ireland. He has gone on to develop a broad working vocabulary that touches on a wide range of subjects, from the personal and familial to the political.

He began posting daily ‘in the moment’ photography and short-looped video pieces on an Instagram account entitled especiallyeverything (@lockymorris) over five years ago, and regards this as an ongoing artwork that mostly, though not exclusively, arises from reveries during his ‘walking and working’ wanderings or while simply going about the business of living. There is an openness and fluidity to his approach which often involves brief improvised actions that reflect back aspects of his immediate landscape in Derry, or that of the nearby coastline. The work produced by this 'unpredictable' project is multi-layered and meant to poetically trigger the imagination rather than providing specific interpretation. It's been described as having an ‘active stillness’ that aligns and embraces 'issues and situations'. Questions also arise within it about what might be considered worthy of our gaze – the things he chooses to depict may seem ordinary but can gain importance as more complex narratives unfold to the viewer.

Locky Morris applied for a Golden Fleece Award to help support a new, long-form portmanteau-style filmwork that will be included in an upcoming exhibition at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. Building on his recent lens-based work, it will be accompanied by a specially-composed soundtrack.