Be on the lookout for Weeks\u2019 new work, which will be released at R Hughes on a rolling basis beginning this fall. Sculptures range from $1,895 to $8,700.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAfter nearly two years of law school, he left to pursue art, something he had dabbled in across various mediums, since childhood. \u201cI always loved fashion; I loved art; I loved jewelry; I loved interiors,\u201d Weeks says. Law school, it seemed, was never going to be a long-term solution for his creative mind.<\/p>\n
After jobs making window displays at American Apparel, hustling as a photo stylist with renowned photographers such as Erica Dines and working alongside interior designer and artist Steve McKenzie at his now-shuttered retail store, Weeks eventually landed on art as his full-time gig with sculptures as his mode. McKenzie had asked Weeks to create a sculptural light fixture out of natural materials, and he found himself playfully approaching the project. \u201cOnce I realized it was OK to write a screenplay instead of a monologue for it, my world opened up,\u201d he says. Weeks realized he didn\u2019t have to put himself, or his art, in a box.<\/p>\n
Each of Weeks\u2019 sculptures, all mounted behind glass, walk the line between ethereal and macabre. Even in their stillness, the sculptures seem to move. His intricate pieces are composed of found items such as feathers, pearls and bones, including coyote toes and rattlesnake heads. In addition to cadaverous materials, Weeks is enamored by all things shiny and textural, an attraction he credits to his grandmother\u2019s bauble collection. \u201cI grew up playing in her jewelry box as a kid, and it taught me to see how objects catch light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breathing new life into objects is what gives his work purpose and room to grow. He references a Bible verse from Ezekiel: \u201cCome from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these dry bones so that they may come alive.\u201d He says, \u201cI think there\u2019s something so moving about taking this thing that was dead and working with it to bring it back and celebrate it. Maybe at first my work seems gothic to some people, but to me, it\u2019s also celebratory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weeks relies heavily on his senses to help him create. \u201cOne of my greatest features and my greatest flaws is I see, smell and hear everything. I try to capture that feeling, see where my mind goes and notice what materials I have available in my home studio [in Ansley Park],\u201d Weeks says. Then, he gets to work. \u201cI\u2019ll have a vague idea of where a sculpture is going, but I also have to really stay open to the fact that it may be totally different at the end, and maybe that\u2019s where it was supposed to be the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
His first collection, Indefinite Articles, took him nearly three years to complete and was released as a series in September 2019. These sculptures from his first collection have been featured in several Buckhead show houses and at R. Hughes in ADAC in Peachtree Hills.<\/p>\n
The confines of 2020 have impacted Weeks\u2019 work, allowing him time to create more now than ever before. \u201cThe pieces [I\u2019m working on] feel really hopeful to me. Maybe that\u2019s out of necessity because I just don\u2019t have any more room for anything dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
R HUGHES \n351 Peachtree Hills Ave. \nN.E., Suite 320 \nAtlanta 30305 \n404.607.8877 \nr-hughes.com<\/a><\/p>\nphoto: Simon Upton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blake Weeks creates otherworldly art with found objects A self-proclaimed rule follower, sculpture artist Blake Weeks says he was raised to follow the road more traveled. He was his Alabama high school\u2019s valedictorian. He attended University of Alabama at Birmingham and eventually Georgia State University College of Law because it\u2019s what, according to Weeks, he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":19653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[241,20056,21],"tags":[20301,20303,20305,20304,19317,20306,20307,20302],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\n
REBORN IN SCULPTURE – Simply Buckhead<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n