The Hollowed Family - Mickey Mori 'Wide Open' -Blown Away Contestant John Moran

John Moran is a politically and socially engaged hot glass sculptor, mixed media artist, co-founder of Gent Glass, and all around nice guy. He is an American currently living and working in Ghent, Belgium. Though he does not consider himself an academic, he has the accolades that say otherwise. He enjoys traveling, talking about art, good food, and pints with friends.

Art is a mechanism; it is a tool we can use to express complex ideas, emotions, and discontent while offering an alternative to apathy. I believe it is a powerful device that can be used for social change and political dissent. It has the power to reach people from different walks of life and bring them together to reflect and converse. In my work, I attempt to illustrate the significance of socio-political awareness in our current polarized climate through accessible narrative and figurative imagery with a twist of art history and pop culture. I work primarily as a hot glass sculptor, but I am fan of dabbling in a variety of other materials to bring the glass elements to life. Each work I create is inspired by an individual narrative and is meant to stand alone. As I continue to create these individual pieces – the combined narratives tell a greater story, creating a Disneyfied fantasy world based on the confusion of our (my) own reality.