Lawrence Morrell is fascinated by the new science of synthetic biology and creates work that references the way scientists are deconstructing biological organisms and reassembling them into new and synthetic life forms. In his latest body of work entitled “Bio-engineered Organisms”, Morrell takes apart intricate images from biological research and the molecular world and reassembles them into his vision of newly created organisms. He then carves these two dimensional drawings into three dimensions in layers of heat worked glass. Morrell’s sculptures explore the intersection between society’s need to protect the natural world and the scientist’s desire to usefully modify it, thereby enabling us to survive and prosper despite the cataclysmic effects of our species on this planet.

In 1984, he collaborated with others to create the New York Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, in carved, illuminated glass. He was interviewed on National Public Television on The McNeil Lehrer News Hour about the experience. After the Memorial commission, Morrell started his own art studio in New York, creating sculptures for Cartier, Morgan Stanley, Chase Manhattan, Petrossian’s Caviar, and a two-story glass sculpture for the façade of the Millennium Hotel at Times Square. On the West Coast he has been commissioned by VISA International.