Kellie Weeks: Fabrications

March 6– April 6, 2014

Reception Saturday, March 8, 5-7pm

Artist Talk Saturday, March 22, 2pm

Kellie Weeks’ paintings, encaustic in nature, embark on an investigation in personal relationships that develop as a result of changing and shifting boundaries. 

 

Kellie Weeks, Toppling, encaustic.

Fabrications is an ongoing investigation founded in personal relationships formulated as a result of changing and shifting boundaries.  Ultimately, Kellie considers these paintings conversations, or stories, about building, and rebuilding what has been lost or destroyed as a result of foundations being fostered upon falsities or imperfections.  In some of the work, things feel top-heavy, or the lines and boundaries are clouded and distorted; sometimes there is this feeling of balance or off-balance in the painting, there is a sense of certain uncertainty in the work, or there is confusion about what is coming forward or receding into the back. There are deep scars carved into the wax that represent the eternal chasm of harm done by the dissolution of these relationships. However, we also see the light beyond the darkness and the worth of promise to build again.  All of these things lend themselves to the point that we are human, and humans will fail each other.  Without mistakes there is no chance for learning.  The point is, when we see the need for transition and transformation, hopefully we realize the truth and authenticity that is inherent our lives and we act accordingly.

About Kellie:

Kellie Weeks received her B.F.A from Bradford College in 2001.  She is an abstract painter who uses encaustic, an ancient medium that is comprised of beeswax, resin, and dry pigments, for their insurmountable quality, depth, and brilliancy.  A Fitchburg resident, she works from her studio in West Concord, MA.

WICKED Group Show

Juried by Hope Turner and Zola Solamente of Arden Gallery, Boston

January 30 – March 2, 2014

Reception Saturday, February 8, 2014, 5 –7pm

Our third anniversary (can you believe it?) Juried Show, entitled WICKED, runs from January 30 – March 2, 2014. A Reception will be held Saturday, February 8th from 5-7pm.

The theme was deliberately wide-open to interpretation by artists, while taking inspiration from the way the way the word wicked is used here in New England. 

The Gallery aims to showcase contemporary art that is original and exciting, so we asked professional artists working in all media to show us work that was cool, excellent, and ‘wicked awesome.”

And they did! Nearly 200 artists, some from as far away as Texas and Oregon, submitted over three hundred works of art to this show. Jurors Hope Turner and Zola Solamente, of Arden Gallery in Boston, made some difficult decisions, and ultimately selected 36 pieces by 30 artists for inclusion into the show.

Breaking Boundaries:: An exhibit by the artists of New England Wax

Jurors: Lauren K. O’Neal and Sara Zela,

of Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter, NH

January 2, 2014 – January 26, 2014

Reception & Jurors Talk: January 4, 2014, 5 – 7PM

All Day Encaustic Event, Jan. 11, 11AM – 5PM

Artist Talk by Sue Katz, January 26, 1 – 2 PM

All events are FREE and open to the public

(preregistration is required for Jan. 11 event)

Holly Berube, Star Globe, encaustic.

The art in Breaking Boundaries, while unified by the medium of encaustic, is defined by personal thematic interpretations. The twenty-one artists participating in this exhibition employ diverse styles and theme as they work toward their personal“thresholds”, challenging the boundaries of message, meaning, metaphor, and materiality.

Jurors Lauren O’Neal, Director of the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy and a faculty

member in Boston University’s Graduate Arts Administration Program, and Sara Zela, Gallery

Manager at the Lamont Gallery have selected 33 pieces for the exhibit.

Encaustic, or painting with wax, is an ancient technique that dates back to the 5th Century B.C,

now enjoying a tremendous in popularity, in large part due to its luninous tactile qualities.The

artists of New England Wax have expanded the medium into new uses and techniques, revealing

its rediscovered versatility and appeal. Both 2-and 3-D pieces are represented in the show. 

New England Wax is also sponsoring a day-long encaustic event with technique demonstrations and

panel discussions. The event is free and open to the public, although pre-registration is required.

Image Captions: TOP: 

BOTTOM: 

Julie Vohs, Cabin Fever, encaustic.

Exhbiting Artists: Dawna Bemis, Kim Bernard, Holly Berube, Jeanne Borofsky, Debra Claffey, Pamala

Crabb, Pamela DeJong, Susson Dunholter, Patricia Gerkin, Jeanne Griffin, Suzanne Hauerstein, Sue Katz,

Beverly Rippel, Donna Hamil Talman, Dietlind, Vander Schaaf, Willa Vennema, Julie Vohs, Catherine

Weber, Kellie Weeks, Lelia Stokes, Weinstein, Charyl Weissbach

New England Wax (N.E.W.) is a professional organization of artists living and working New England. N.E.W. is dedicated to furthering artistic goals of its members and raising

awareness of the resurgence of encaustic in the 21st Century.

CALL for ART

Jurors: Hope Turner and Zola Solamente of Arden Gallery, Boston

Exhibit dates- January 30 – March 2, 2014

Reception Saturday, February 8, 2013, 5 –7pm

Application is ONLINE ONLY

Submission Deadline – December 1, 2013 by 6pm

Wicked: (adv.) New England slang that adds emphasis. Very, extremely cool, great; excellent. (*Note: to properly use 'wicked' there must be an adjective placed after it. “The show was wicked” is
incorrect.  “The show was wicked awesome” is the correct usage ;)

Around here, ‘wicked’ describes the best. Show us your best work- original, fully realized, well-crafted two and three-dimensional work and new media. Everything else is up to you! This show is open to professional artists working in all media.

Jurors: Hope Turner and Zola Solamente of Arden Gallery, a prominent contemporary art gallery located in Boston, MA, representing contemporary artists from across the nation, working in various styles: abstract; realism; figurative; still life; landscape; cityscape; surreal and concept-driven.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Submission Deadline – December 1, 2013 by 6pm EDT

• Notification of acceptance – listed on gallery web site by December 30, 2013

• Delivery –   Shipped work must arrive before 5pm, January 23, 2014

In person, January 23 -26, 11am-5pm

• Pick Up of Works – March 2, 5 –6 pm and March 3, 11am –2pm & 6pm – 8pm.

WORK MAY NOT BE REMOVED BEFORE THE END OF THE SHOW @ 5PM 3/2

 Apply at fountainstreetfineart.com/apply


Access Arts' ArtDeadline.Com
The art world's source for income and exhibition news. A searchable database and magazine that lists local, national and international juried exhibitions, competitions, grants, art jobs, percent-for-arts, art in public RFP's, festivals, residencies, internships, & much more... Also see comprehensive artist support and representation services.

Kellie Weeks talks about Mark Rothko

This is another in a series of occasional blog posts, where we've asked a member artist to talk briefly about an artist who's profoundly influenced their work. Here, core artist Kellie Weeks talks about her fascination with the Color Field Paintings of Mark Rothko.

One of my most profound inspirations is Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko.  In his much later work, I admire the way he brilliantly uses fields of non-objective color to portray a story.  

Orange and Yellow, by Mark Rothko, oil on canvas, 231 x 180.3 cm, 1956, courtesy of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA.

Rothko comments “I think of my pictures as dramas; the shapes in the pictures are the performers.   They have been created from the need for a group of actors who are able to move dramatically without embarrassment and execute gestures without shame.”  (American Art Since 1945; David Joselit)  

Often, I see my own work in this fashion.  Each painting is a drama constructed with colors and forms, and I invite the viewer to look in and perhaps create their own narrative based on the information I have provided.   There are no embarrassments, no shame, everything on the canvas is there for a reason.  They are all actors in the play.

- Kellie Weeks

And now a bit about Kellie Weeks:

Kellie is an abstract painter. Often in her work, basic fields of color, shapes, and objects are seen yielding to one another or competing for space. These dynamic compositions tend to describe simple relationships which reveal pertinent information about mankind and what it means to be a living being in this world, all the while, trying to illuminate the human spirit and the journey it is on.

Kellie paints with pigment sticks and encaustic, which is an ancient medium that is comprised of beeswax, resin, and dry pigments.While using encaustics for their insurmountable quality, depth, and brilliancy, Kelliealso incorporates dry pigments, metal leaf, shellac, and other mixed media as vehicles to develop a whole lexicon of imagery.

Kellie’s work has been exhibited nationally in many juried and group shows, and is

included in many private and public collections. Additionally, she has worked on many

commissioned pieces. She works diligently, day to day in the studio, searching for what her hero Mark Rothko calls the “anecdote of the spirit”.