REFRAMING OLD GLORY : COVER ARTICLE IN PASATIEMPO MAGAZINE

BY BRIAN SANDFORD

One could compellingly argue that the current version of the American flag, designed by high schooler Robert G. Heft in 1958 to accommodate two additional stars, is the world’s most provocative piece of art.

In nations such as South Korea, where a strong U.S. military presence is seen as a deterrent to bordering North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions, glimpses of “Old Glory” elicit joy and comfort. In Canada, the flag likely will be seen as a symbol of imperialist aggression for decades, a result of current U.S. leaders’ comments about annexing the U.S.’s longtime ally. Even within New Mexico, it evokes far different feelings in those at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo than in residents of one of the state’s 19 pueblos.

So Scooter Morris’ We Are the People series, consisting of American flags she created and then augmented, elicits emotional responses in waves: The viewer experiences a visceral reaction to the Stars and Stripes, then focuses on the Santa Fe artist’s pointed political messages. The series is exhibited through August 17 at Aurelia Gallery.

While some messages are overt — the statement “HE IS A FELON” requires little contemplation to comprehend — Morris aims to leave much open to interpretation. Of Our Own Making places a fabric American flag behind chain-link fencing and can be viewed as commentary on the sudden challenge to such democratic norms as due process; criticism of current U.S. immigration policy, which bans travel here from 19 nations as the Trump administration considers adding 36 more; or current attitudes about the southern U.S. border, the dynamics of which many Americans who don’t live near it often misunderstand.

“I thought of the kids in cages, which is inhumane,” Morris says of what inspired the idea for Of Our Own Making. “‘We the People’ is written discreetly all over the piece, repeated over and over again. The chain-link fence is going to create shadows, which is intentional. Life is about perspective, and your perspective could change. Every time you move, the shadows fall differently [on the piece].” . . .

 

FEATURE IN THE ART INSIGHT: MAKING ROOM FOR THE UNSPOKEN

L. Scooter Morris’s paintings don’t just hang—they press forward. They reach into your space, ask things of you. Built with rough textures, shifting surfaces, and sculpted layers, her works are less about visuals and more about experience. Morris calls herself a sensory illusionist, and it’s easy to see why. Her pieces invite movement, contemplation, and touch. They’re not passive objects; they’re invitations.

What motivates her isn’t polish or perfection. It’s the need to tell the truth—especially the hard, uncomfortable kind. Morris’s work opens space to sit with contradiction, with what we’ve buried, ignored, or rewritten. Her goal isn’t to simplify. It’s to reflect. Her “Sculpted Paintings” aren’t meant to soothe. They’re meant to hold space for doubt, history, and what comes next.

We Are The People (2025)
Acrylic and Mixed Media, 60” x 48”

This painting lays it out plainly. Using pieces of the U.S. founding documents as actual material, Morris layers them into the surface. The result isn’t clean or reverent. It’s frayed, painted over, weathered. The Constitution and the Declaration don’t sit untouched—they’re part of the work’s structure, tangled into the medium like a memory that won’t sit still.

She doesn’t treat the documents as relics. Instead, they’re treated like working material—ideas meant to be tested, revisited, and re-examined. Some of the words remain visible, others are partially lost under thick strokes. That unevenness feels deliberate. Morris seems to be asking: What are we really holding onto?

There’s no nostalgia here. The phrase “We the People” becomes a question more than a declaration. Who counts? Who’s been left out? Who’s still waiting to be heard? The painting doesn’t answer. It holds the discomfort of not knowing.

ART MUSE EXPRESS ARTICLE: ART THAT ASKS THE BIGGER QUESTIONS

BY SERAPHINA CALDER

L. Scooter Morris doesn’t create work that stays on the wall. It reaches out—visually, emotionally, and even physically. She calls herself a sensory illusionist, and it fits. Her “Sculpted Paintings” are built from mixed media and layered surfaces that invite you to move around them, not just look at them. These aren’t decorative pieces. They’re charged with tension—the kind that lives between what’s happening and what’s underneath.

What drives Morris isn’t perfection. It’s truth. She works to create spaces that ask, rather than answer—spaces where we can slow down, take stock, and ask harder questions about the world around us. She doesn’t offer slogans. Her work isn’t about clarity or comfort. It’s about complexity, contradiction, and choosing to look directly at what’s unfolding.

FEATURED ARTICLE IN ART TODAY: Painting What We Carry

L. Scooter Morris doesn’t just make art you look at—she makes art you feel. A self-described sensory illusionist, Morris builds her work around the tension between what we experience in a moment and what lies beneath that moment. Her “Sculpted Paintings” don’t sit flat on the wall. They breathe. Built from mixed media and layers of texture, they pull light in and throw it back out, giving the viewer not only something to see but something to walk around and absorb. She’s not aiming for decoration. She’s aiming for connection.

Morris uses her art to open space—for questions, for conversation, for difficult truths. In a time when society is pushing against its own reflection, she asks us to look harder. Her work doesn’t preach, but it doesn’t flinch either. It’s about facing what’s right in front of us, what we’re made of, and what kind of world we want to live in.

We Are The People (2025)
Acrylic and Mixed Media, 60” x 48”

This piece sits right at the center of Morris’s current direction. In it, she works directly with the U.S. founding documents—not just as symbols, but as material. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence appear not as static relics but as living, textured layers in the surface of the work.

Morris isn’t trying to glorify these documents. She’s using them to show how ideas, even good ones, can get worn down or forgotten. The words are torn, folded, painted over, layered in acrylic and medium like sediment. Some parts shine through; others are buried. It’s not neat. That’s the point.

At this moment in American life, the question Morris is asking is simple and sharp: Who are “We the People” now? Her answer isn’t a lecture. It’s a challenge. This painting doesn’t predict the future—it reflects the stakes.

ARTWIRE REVIEWS “FELON”

 
 

L. Scooter Morris: Painting What Can’t Be Said

L. Scooter Morris doesn’t just paint. She constructs. She sculpts. She captures moments most people wouldn’t even notice and shapes them into something that lingers. A sensory illusionist, Morris takes the ephemeral—an impression, a texture, a social flashpoint—and gives it form. Her “Sculpted Paintings” go beyond the flat surface. They blend media, light, and texture to create visual conversations. Her work isn’t just about beauty; it’s about what beauty can carry. Especially in times like these, where justice feels fragile and progress feels like a push-pull, Morris is offering a mirror, or maybe a warning. Each piece dares to ask something deeper. And often, it demands an answer.

One of her most telling works, Felon (2025), offers just that kind of reckoning.

At first glance, Felon reads as an American flag. But stay with it longer and that familiarity begins to unravel. The flag is there, yes—stars, stripes, the red-white-and-blue—but those stripes aren’t just painted lines. They’re made of currency. Real bills. American dollars. And the ink? It bleeds. It smudges. It looks raw. The stars feel colder than usual, the stripes more volatile. Overlaid are threads, washes, shadows. It’s not patriotic decoration—it’s a provocation.

Felon | Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas | 30" x 48" | $7,500

Morris has said this work is her “insight into the progression of who we are and where we have come from.” It’s a painting, but also a history lesson. Or maybe a confrontation. Layered into the flag are pieces of documents and artifacts we’ve come to associate with identity, authority, and power. You see snippets of the Constitution, old banknotes, references to incarceration, and even the faint suggestion of fingerprints.

The word “FELON” is scrawled across the stripes, almost like a brand. This isn’t subtle. It’s intentional. The label cuts across the icon of national pride. It challenges the viewer to ask who gets called a felon in this country—and why. Who writes the rules, and who gets punished for breaking them?

Morris uses acrylics and mixed media like a builder. Nothing in the work is just paint for paint’s sake. The surface is dense. There’s a physicality to it that pushes back against the passivity of viewing. You almost want to touch it, even though it looks like it might burn. That’s the push of her sculpted technique—using surface to spark a deeper look inward. . .

 

Circle Foundation for the Arts Honors L. Scooter Morris

For artwork demonstrating originality, uniqueness, and remarkable aesthetic quality, selected from all visual arts categories in the Circle Arts Online Art Contest, for participation in Booth 514/315 (in collaboration with World Wide Art) at the 2025 Santa Fe Art Fair.

 

ARTWORLD DAILY MAGAZINE INTERVIEW BY ANN WILLIAMS

 

L. SCOOTER MORRIS: PAINTING THE TEXTURE OF TRUTH BY ANN WILLIAMS

L. Scooter Morris calls herself a sensory illusionist, and it fits. Her work goes beyond traditional painting, blending texture, light, and color into what she calls “Sculpted Paintings”—pieces that feel more like environments than objects. These are not just images to look at; they are experiences meant to be felt. Rooted in a desire to express deeper truths about the human condition, Morris uses her art to capture fleeting moments of sensory perception and elevate them into something lasting. Her process is layered, much like the realities she’s reflecting—realities shaped by beauty, struggle, justice, and transformation. At a time when conversations around equality and societal change are more important than ever, her work becomes both a mirror and a question. With every textured surface and glowing edge, Morris invites us to look closer—not just at the canvas, but at ourselves, and the world we’re shaping together.

Here is the artist’s interview.

What is your creative process like?
I am always working; painting, designing, and evolving the process through materials and the concept of what “Sculpted Paintings” are and what I envision they can become.  In that progression, one idea leads to another. I find that the extension of the idea is the inspiration for the next piece. 

Do any personal experiences shape your work?
I  am constantly inspired by the events and things happening in my life and in the larger scope of what affects us all.  When you see the paintings, you see an image, perhaps an iconic symbol, (the flag, hearts, stars, or other symbols) that seems familiar. It is the viewer’s response to that detail that gives meaning to those symbols and to the work as a whole. 
Sometimes these images are a reflection of current events. Sometimes they are a reflection of my conscience, concern, or consideration.

What challenges do you face as an artist?
The challenge is to create the work in a way that is fresh while also maintaining the artistic integrity and high level of technical competence. If a piece of work is not done well, it shows. Combing every aspect: color, design, composition, all of these are essential to making a painting work. 

What do you want people to feel when they see your art?
I do not control how people see my work, nor can I control what they think it means or how they will feel. Still, by using iconic images in the work, I have realized this allows people have their own connection to the work. Everyone has their own experience and will have their own memories and emotional connection to each piece in a unique way. 

Scooter Morris doesn’t aim to provide answers—she offers experiences. Her “Sculpted Paintings” ask us to slow down, to feel, and to engage with the world around us more consciously. In a time when surface impressions often dominate, Morris encourages depth. Through her immersive, mixed-media pieces, she opens a space where beauty, memory, and conversation intersect. It’s not just about what we see—it’s about what it makes us think, remember, and question. Morris’s work is a quiet yet persistent call to reflect on justice, truth, and the human experience—one layered painting at a time.



"The Lamp" Purchased by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine

“the Lamp” Sculpted Painting ™ by L. Scooter Morris in the office of D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine

”THE LAMP” | 20” x 42” | Acrylic & Mixed Media

Featured on: Bloomberg, Washington Post, CNBC, Getty Images, & More

Art Basel Miami 2024 – The Sky is Everything at Red Dot

CONTEMPORARY ART CURATOR MAGAZINE INTERVIEW

L. Scooter Morris as Featured in Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

We the people, have found ourselves at this defining moment, with the grand desire to change the course of our future deciding to be more than we are at present, more than we have been, and challenge the best of ourselves to become something we have only hoped possible.

As one of the many, I use my vision as an artist in an effort to reveal social injustice and suggest a possible alternative by inspiring others to use their voice.

The named style of my work is called, “Sculpted Paintings”. The paintings are an integration of color, light and texture. They are the collaboration, after many years, of combining materials and concept, ideas and technique and finding the subtle flow of message and medium.  The fleshed out nuances becoming a living piece of art as a three dimensional image on the two dimentional plane.

In describing your work as sculpted paintings that seduce viewers into exploring new ideas, you touch on a form of sensory deception or illusion. Could you elaborate on how this approach not only challenges but enhances the viewer's perception of reality? How do you balance the tension between illusion and the 'thread of something real' in your work?

My work, which is called, Sculpted Paintings, is the integration of color, light and texture with many surface variations and includes, mixed media.

I use paint and materials to create the illusion that something exists that the viewer perceives, suggested by my images but goes beyond the image. By choosing iconic images such as a flag, a heart, stars, and abstract landscapes it creates something real and the use of texture, colors and sculpted materials create the illusion that frees the viewer to explore more profound perceptions.

Your process involves capturing the essence of a moment—how do you decide which elements of that moment are crucial to convey in your artwork? Is there a particular experience or piece that you found particularly challenging to encapsulate, and how did you overcome that challenge?   

You begin the work, the work evolves, and in that evolutionally process a story begins to take shape. This story has a life of its own and begins to write itself. The magical “moment” is the spark that comes spontaneously to the artist. This is often expressed when a person says, “the light bulb went on”.

Moving to New Mexico notably influenced your art style and led to the evolution of your unique sculpted paintings. How do environmental and cultural contexts shape the methods and materials you choose? Do you believe an artist's surroundings are reflected implicitly or explicitly in their work?    

Sculpted Paintings were initially conceived while I was an art student at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.  After moving to New Mexico this style was enhanced and influenced in a profound way. And of course, New Mexico affected both my color palette and my content. New Mexico and Santa Fe have long attracted and influenced both writers and artists. By way of example Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings changed dramatically when she left New York and the East for New Mexico. Being surrounded daily by great distances and vistas as well as the rich colors of the high desert you find these influences seeping into your perceptions and your very being.



L. Scooter Morris Featured in The Artworld Post

“L. Scooter Morris, a sensory illusionist, transforms momentary experiences into captivating images. Her paintings reflect the deeper truths within reality, capturing fleeting sensory experiences as glimpses of something greater. Her “Sculpted Paintings” integrate color, light, and texture, utilizing mixed media and surface variations to create immersive works. Dedicated to fostering open dialogue amid evolving societal changes, Morris’s art aims to be both beautiful and meaningful, resonating especially during times when we strive for equality and justice. [Read the Full article Here]”

Feature in Art Muse Express

Scooter Morris describes herself as a “sensory illusionist,” an artist dedicated to capturing the essence of a moment and transforming it into a visual experience. For Morris, art is not merely a reflection of reality but a deep exploration of the truths that lie beneath the surface. Each painting becomes a moment of sensory experience, a glimpse into something much larger and more profound than the immediate world we perceive. Morris’s unique approach, termed “Sculpted Paintings,” involves the integration of color, light, and texture, creating works that are deeply meaningful. Through her art, Morris seeks to foster open dialogue, particularly in these times of evolving social change, where the quest for beauty is intertwined with the pursuit of equality and justice. [Read the Full Article Here]