Laila Weeks knows something about making an impact. The artist, whose work has been hanging on the white-bricked walls of Downtown coffee destination Zendo (413 Second Street SW), doesn’t aim to dazzle you with a zillion colors and an encyclopedia of obscure techniques. Her current collection uses only one color—an eyeball-scorching shade of red acrylic—and a bit of ink and acid-etched metal. And yet it’s impossible not to stare.Part of what makes her simple abstract pieces so interesting is a telescoping sense of size. The drawings are just 4.5 in. by 4.5 in., displaying small, cell-like shapes and almost-organic forms in black ink on white paper. That sea of red paint nearly swallows up the tiny structures. Then there are the etchings. Weeks explains that they’re achieved “by a process of a resist being adhered to the plate, an acid bath being poured onto the plate, and the acid eating away the zinc coating, exposing the rustable steel beneath.” At 48 in. by 48 in., the galvanized steel sheets find those organic structures stretched and amplified, surging along on shimmering waves of reflective metal.“Scale,” Weeks acknowledges, “is one topic at hand.”Experience her work in person at the show’s closing reception on Friday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8pm. Austin Morrell will be on hand to provide live ambient music, and there’ll be a raffle and snacks to settle your nerves if you get too lost among the art.
Laila Weeks closing receptionFriday, Jan. 31, 6 to 8pmZendo413 Second Street SW926-1636
