John ‘sleepy’ Moran is Internationally recognized for his narrative style work, and can be see on Season 3 of Netflix’s glass blowing competition: BLOWN AWAY!

John ‘sleepy’ Moran is a contemporary artist, using glass as his primary medium. He seamlessly blends impeccably sculpted glass components into representational sculptures, weaving in fabric, found objects, resins, and a variety of other materials into his work. He creates lifelike objects and emotionally charged installations that give the viewer pause in both their concept and their stature.

John Moran’s works are inspired by both the contemporary and the past, pop culture and politics, they are both humorous and tragic, refined, and unkempt.

  • Dominka Drozdowska

John Moran (US/BE) creates lifelike, realistic sculptural works from glass and mixed media.

His work exists at the line between perception and reality, feeding off uncertainty, the space between the known and the unknown, failure and success, life and death, fantasy and reality. He is immensely influenced by his experience living as a bi-national, living and integrating into European society while maintaining his American identity, touching often on the feelings of belonging and acceptance. First and foremost, Moran is a storyteller, reshaping and reforming historical anecdotes, cultural references, and personal experiences into an exploration of ‘the truth’ and a search for the undefined.

For more than 25 years, Moran has worked to master glass as a material while refusing to be allured by the beauty and purity traditionally associated with it. His narrative, sculptural works are made primarily from molten glass, but infused with a variety of other materials. His custom made clothing, encapsulating environments, and meticulously selected, aged, and/or altered mixed media elements are a testament to his dedication to combining conceptual, critical thinking with beauty and craftsmanship. His unconventional approach and material use are unique in contemporary art.

John Moran was born in Philadelphia in 1979. He relocated to Belgium in 2013 and has since lived and worked between Ghent and the United. He has exhibited at various prestigious locations throughout Europe and the United States. He holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art (US), and MFA from Illinois State University (US), and a PhD from E. Geppert Academy of Art and Design Wroclaw (PL). In 2022, Moran participated in and won Netflix’s competitive, artistic glass making show – Blown Away Season 3.

He has held substantial solo exhibitions at Schoolhouse Gallery (US); Habatat Galleries (US); The Hodge Gallery at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (US); GlasMuseet Ebeltoft (DK); SiC! Gallery at BWA Galleries of Contemporary Art  (PL); Augustinerkloster (BE); S12 Gallery (NO); Delaware Contemporary (US); and the Geuzenhuis (BE).

Moran has participated in several prestigious group exhibitions such as Art Miami with Galerie Helligkeit (US/DE); Aqua Art with Salome Art Venture (US/NL); HotShop France (FR); Blowfish Gallery (UK); MusVerre (FR); The Hodge Gallery at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (US); Habatat Galleries (US); Fort Wayne Museum of Art (US); Venice Glass Week (IT); Bergstrom-Mahler Museum (US); SOFA Chicago (US); Royal Summer Palace (CZ); Wheaton Arts Gallery (US); and the Traver Gallery (US).