The bulk of my work over the past forty years has centered around modular constructions in bronze, marble, granite, and steel. And in that time, the work has always maintained figurative leadings, although never too overtly obvious. And so it is with ‘Courage Under Fire’. At first glance, it is more like architecture. But sit with it for a time and you will begin to feel a sense of anatomy.

Grade Level: 9–12

Project Title: Color and Character

Objective: Investigate the emotional power of color in sculpture.

Activity: Students create 3D forms in clay or cardboard and finish them with a single color that symbolizes a chosen human quality (e.g., courage, honesty, doubt). They write artist statements.

Courage Under Fire presents a commanding red steel form that balances architectural structure with subtle suggestions of the human figure. Morin describes his work as maintaining “figurative leanings, although never too overtly obvious,” allowing viewers to move between readings of body and structure. The sculpture explores figurative abstraction—a process in which recognizable human qualities are suggested rather than fully depicted—through rhythmic curves and rigid planes that convey resilience, tension, and upright defiance.

Placed in dialogue with themes of bravery and confrontation, the composition suggests opposing forces held in dynamic balance. Its bold color and scale emphasize endurance and resolve, inviting reflection on courage as both a posture and an internal condition shaped through challenge and reaction.