Douglass Weathersby

Weathersby received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking in 1995 from Atlanta College of Art and a Masters of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art in 2002. In school Weathersby was interested in things on the periphery of experience--play of light and shadow, ephemeral objects, and transience--leading him to start Environmental Services through which he offers a variety of services including house cleaning, home repair, painting, and art handling. The services that Weathersby performs provide him with the materials for his artistic endeavors; the artist reorganizes accumulations of residue gathered during his cleaning jobs, and the resulting material, usually a combination of dust and detritus, is given form and shape through shadows cast from both natural and artificial light sources. For Weathersby, the act of pushing dirt into shadows to create forms calls attention to "things that often go unnoticed or are undesirable."

Most of Weathersby's work--not unlike the cleaning he performs--is extremely impermanent, living on only as long as the optimal conditions allow or until the dust is swept up or disturbed. Because of its ephemeral nature, many of his works are documented and mediated through a variety of photographic and digital means. His exhibition at the ICA includes a combination of video and live-feed images of works that Weathersby has created in the museum workrooms in addition to a dust drawing created in the gallery space.