Biography

Born in New York in 1911, sculptor Hilda Morris studied at the Cooper Union School of Art and the Art Students League there. Moving to Portland in 1941 with Carl Morris she continued her 3-dimensional work and developed a personal style of calligraphy based from traditional sumi techniques. Her paintings are connected to her bronze sculpture through their sense of strength and structure. Her creative intent is rooted in an awareness of universals which gives it a feeling of monumentality. Because of her interest in poetry her work often contains metaphor as expression, revealing a belief in the essential mystery of things. In her sculpture, as in her sumi paintings, the importance of process over product is self-evident. She is represented in major museum collections throughout the United States, her major commissions include Seattle Opera House; Standard Plaza, Portland; and Pacific National Building, Tacoma.