Meet the Artist: Tim Morris
Philip Carton
Business Post
Jan 24, 2026
You may already recognise Wicklow-born Tim Morris's work. Best known for his unique works in metal and bronze - a stonecutting apprenticeship with Roe and O'Neill's granite quarry as well as time spent under American sculptor Robert Schoen in Carrara, Italy will do that - Morris' work draws on internal reflection, imagination and childhood memory, crafting sculptural objects which balance playfulness from his foundry in Foxford, Co Mayo.
Boxcars is the title of his current exhibition at the Solomon Gallery, one which sees over 200 unique bronze structures, begun in 2020, evoking ideas of transport, trade and travel. These works suggest stillness charged with history and anticipation, and were constructed initially from discarded corrugated cardboard before being cast in bronze. The project began during lockdown as a response to waiting and suspension, and has continued through later travels across Europe and North Africa.
See: solomonfineart.ie
How did your artistic journey begin?
I enjoyed drawing and painting as a young child, however, by about age nine I carved a bird bath out of a block of granite at the back of our house. I also started to melt lead and freehand pour shapes onto the floor and then hammer them. I was fascinated with mercury as a metal and would marvel at its behaviour as I pushed it around the kitchen table.
Where did the title for your current show come from?
The pandemic restrictions on travel and getting materials gave me time to think and adjust to the situation. I get bored very easily, so decided to work with what I had, which were cardboard boxes dumped in one of the sheds. Learning how to use them was the next thing.
I started tearing up bits of cardboard and assembled a few boxcars. I continued working with the cardboard with the idea of restricted lives and was thinking a lot about the iconic boxcars of America, the land of opportunity and commerce, as well as the hobos jumping trains and the vastness of the landscape. I also thought of Europe and it's impossible not to be moved by the use of boxcars to transport so many to their death.
What do you want the audience to feel when visiting the exhibition and viewing your work?
Hopefully the viewing public will see how I have tried to express through sculpture the feeling of waiting, uncertainty and boredom.
What's something you wished people asked you about your art but rarely do?
People don't ask me about the childlike imagination I've been able to keep for so long.
What's the most valuable investment - of time, money or energy - you've made in your career?
Building my own studio and bronze-casting foundry. I have total freedom to make whatever I wish without reliance on state/ outside funding.
A place that means a lot to you other than your studio?
I have the use of a workshop in a small town at the base of the middle Atlas Mountains, I feel very much at home living and working in North Africa.
What's the biggest misconception people have about being an artist today?
Some people may not realise that artists are self-employed sole traders, no different from the rest of workers trying to make ends meet.
What's a recent cultural moment - film, book, exhibition, event - that has stayed with you?
Beep, Beep, an installation by the artist Liliane Puthod, which was shown at Dublin Port in 2024. A brilliant use of her late father's Renault 4.
How do you see technology - Al, digital tools, social media - reshaping the art world?
Every generation of artists should embrace new technologies as they become available to stay relevant to their own time. I use whatever technologies are available if they suit my needs.
If you could disrupt one things about the art world what would it be?
I would like to see more visual artists reject the curator-driven approach to exhibitions, less reliance on state funding and more beg, borrow and steal approach to the making of art.
The best piece of advice I ever received?
One can't do everything, so focus on what you can.
