Strange Fire, 2023, acrylic on canvas, triptych, 6 × 15 ft

“Rocky Morton is doing his job as a painter. These are paintings for an era that begs for vision but mires in conflict. Morton finds beauty in division — his colored paintings thrill with outpourings of intense hues, all assigned to their own regions yet struggling to oppose and at the same time embrace, even merge with, one another. They embody the vicissitudes of a quarrelsome yet social species, demonstrating the harmony that can finally emerge from a confluence of what turn out to be not-so-diverse interests. As for the cosmic dust paintings, they present – or represent – the forces beyond us, beyond not only our knowledge but our imagination. Some of them suggest earthly calamities like volcanic eruptions or blizzards but describe even these as occurring in a permanent nighttime shadow radiant with a literally unearthly glow.”