The Dualities of Kevin Morrissey

A local artist and educator adds to the creative landscape with his thoughtful artwork and teaching style.

by JANA RILEY

Peace in the End 33.5 x 31.5.

Kevin Morrissey thinks there is something in the water in Summerville, South Carolina: something that makes an unusual amount of its residents creatively inclined. Born and raised in the pine-studded town, Morrissey now plays a major role in shaping the artistic future of the Lowcountry enclave and beyond.

Growing up in Summerville, Morrissey surrounded himself with friends who had similar talents and interests; it wasn’t hard for him to find his crowd, which eventually became a tight-knit group of budding artists. They practiced techniques together, critiqued one another’s work, and later, followed each other to Winthrop University, where they all honed their skills. Morrissey studied studio arts and education, intent on becoming the best artist and educator he could be. He dreamed of working in New York, California, or any number of exciting new locales, and started applying for positions as graduation approached. His friends, applying for jobs outside of the teaching realm, began securing positions in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and beyond, but Morrissey kept getting the same responses to his applications: there just weren’t many job openings for art teachers in the cities in which he was applying. Around the same time, a familial need arose that required him to move back to his hometown. He scanned the job listings in the area, and lo and behold, Rollings Middle School of the Arts was looking for an art teacher. Morrissey applied, got the job, and upon graduation, headed right back home to Summerville.

Fresh out of college, Morrissey dove into his career as an educator head-first, bringing with him a drive to teach students life skills such as creative problem solving, perseverance, and building community through arts education.

“Good teaching is good teaching, no matter the subject. I have no business teaching a class on math or english, so I do what I can in art class,” says Morrissey. “Research supports that a solid arts education is essential to our development. The arts encompass every other area of study and synthesize it into application and creation. If you think of the pentacles of each area: math, language, history, and science, the crowning achievement of each is often a work of art. The arts give us emotional and historical context, cultural understanding, and real life application.”

Immediately, Morrissey began reaching many of his students on a deeper level than simply with paint and ink. In his classes, students shared big ideas, confronted real problems, and were given a space to have meaningful discussions—aloud and through their projects. In the span of 14 years, he taught nearly 2000 students, all of whom are now finding their own successes and impacting society in their own ways.

Morrissey often paints on unique canvases.

The artist in his studio.

Showing off one of his new works.

Hard at work on a new piece.

Look Sharp Arise Ye Dead 26 x 8

“For some, staying in school and graduating is a huge accomplishment,” says Morrissey. “I am so impressed in a few particular students who overcame unfair and unsupportive odds to change their lives and set themselves up to improve generations of their families. Other students have gone on to become rocket scientists, doctors, engineers, teachers, molecular biologists, musicians, actors, dancers, illustrators, architects, builders, interior designers, graphic designers, photographers, sculptors, performance artists, and more. Some students have gone on to some of the most prestigious universities and art schools in the country, others went to vocational school. We all have different measures of success. One of mine is the quality of relationships we keep, and in that regard, I think I’ve been successful as a teacher, and my students have been successful as individuals.”

This year, Morrissey will take that same drive and motivation to a new venue: Fort Dorchester High School. Here, the school is larger and the students are older, and Morrissey is ready for the challenges that will arise with his new career path. At the same time, he is forging ahead with his other, just as important career: his life as one of the region’s most talented artists.

An artist for as long as he can remember, Morrissey dedicates just as much thoughtful consideration, passion, and perseverance to his art as he does to his teaching, which one glance at his impressive portfolio makes clear. With one foot in the arts education world and one foot in the art exhibiting world, as well as being a husband and father, it is often a challenge to give his full attention to each of his responsibilities and passions, but somehow, he manages to bring his best self to it all. Morrissey’s work is intimate and contemplative, opening doors for discussions on southern identity, racial issues, faith, death, expectations of youth, and more. His body of work contains many series that are wildly different from one another, showcasing the artist’s ability to switch gears, so to speak, and delve into a new technique or area of focus as he works through his own thoughts on the subject matter.

“One of my college professors would say, ‘if you could explain your art in words, there would be no reason to paint it,’” recalls Morrissey. “I often don’t know what a painting is fully going to be or mean until it is done. I have a rough idea of what I want to express through imagery, but it is only through the process of sketching, researching, reflecting, adjusting, and working do I really find the meaning of the work. Sometimes, it is long after the work is completed that the motivation behind the work is revealed.”

For a time, Morrissey focused his artistic eye on Southern iconography and identity. In this body of work, a cheerleader poses in front of a pawn shop sign that says “guns and diamonds,” a confederate soldier carries a confederate flag in front of a classic firework shop sign, and a guitarist plays soulfully atop a “hot boiled peanuts” sign. There are other paintings that evoke themes of the south, too: blueberries, hunting dogs, shrimp, sweet tea, grits, hot dogs, barbeque, and more classic Southern images grace the varied canvases of Morrissey’s artistic past. And varied they are: Morrissey uses mixed media on a variety of bases including stone, panel, cloth canvas, and anything else that inspires him. These days, he is pushing himself to a new limit, choosing to paint directly on vintage tools in a series he titles “Instruments of Grace.” Using enamel paints and found hammers, saws, wrenches, and other utilitarian objects, Morrissey breathes new life into the castoffs, using his medium to depict religious iconography. Winged skulls, crucifixes, doves, hearts, and diamonds are among the symbols juxtaposed with the tools themselves, often inspired by the imagery found in Lowcountry graveyards. For the artist, the works depict the conflicting dualities of life: faith and doubt, wealth and wisdom, sin and salvation, and the like. Morrissey’s choice to paint not on canvas, but on reclaimed tools, represents the ability to have free will within a consistently conflicting life experience, a decision he hopes resonates with viewers of his work.

“I am so interested in the personal, relational aspect of art,” explains Morrissey. “I want there to be an interaction between me as the maker and the audience as viewers and responders to the work. Conversation leads to relationships, relationships lead to understanding, understanding leads to empathy, and empathy leads to respectfully caring for one another. To start a path toward empathy and love with my art...well, I see that as important work, way more important than any fame or fancy gold frame. If my work is able to achieve those things, I’ll consider it a success.”

While Morrissey measures much of his success based on the way his audiences respond, more conventional measures of success still reflect that the artist is nationally acclaimed. His work has been shown in galleries in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and beyond, sharing the ticket with even more well-known artists. His paintings hold court in private collections across the country, and each newly released series gains its own set of fans quickly, often selling pieces as soon as they hit his website. Still, he says, one of his major challenges locally is to establish the dualities of himself.

“So many people here in Summerville simply know me as the middle school art teacher,” Morrissey says. “It’s hard for them to see me as an artist; I think they see it as just a hobby on the side. But in other markets, where they just see my art without any bias, my work sells well. I hope to let my art speak for itself more—locally and beyond—as I continue to evolve as an artist.”

As Morrissey navigates the world of being just as serious about creating art as he is being an arts educator, he looks to the future, and is determined to help guide his hometown into an era of appreciating, facilitating, and encouraging art of all types.

“The Lowcountry in general is a breeding ground for really creative people,” Morrissey says. “It’s like an incubator of creativity; so many incredible artists were born and raised here. The problem is, many creative people leave for bigger cities and more opportunities. I want to help establish Summerville as a place where creative people feel like they belong: encourage artists to stay and make their impacts here, and encourage those who left to come back and raise their families in their hometown.”

As he raises his own young children, Martin Hatcher and Ruthie, with a wife he adores, Morrissey presses on, constantly looking for ways he can improve the artistic landscape. Sometimes, the answer is simply creating art to exhibit locally, sometimes, it is discussing painting murals around the town with the Chamber of Commerce or helping to establish a more vibrant art community. And, of course, there is his teaching career, where he shares his thoughtful wisdom and unrelenting talents with the next generation of citizens.

“When my work is at its best,” says Morrissey, “I hope it is able to inspire, comfort, reassure, and encourage. Gratefully, I have the opportunity to do that not only with my artwork, but with my teaching career as well. I don’t think I could have chosen a more fulfilling life.” AM

To find out more about Kevin Morrissey, visit kevinmorrisseyart.com