Matt Weir creates all his sculptures in a breezy, red brick warehouse tucked in a forgotten corner of Germantown. Formerly home to furniture, this edifice now houses Weir’s creative impulses. To see it yourself is to lay eyes on a wonderland of ingenuity. The warehouse interior falls somewhere between utilitarian simplicity and the “Antiques Roadshow.”
Small scale models of current projects, clay masks, a tiger bust, brain molds, and a smattering of tools arranged with chaotic organization line the shelves. The garage doors were lifted when I arrived, allowing the whole world a glimpse into the studio of this eclectic and humble artist. Weir seems more like the brainy, charismatic classmate we all had in high school, rather than an accomplished artist with pieces on display all over the Bluegrass.
A column of limestone that once stood as a pillar for Calvary Cemetery rests peacefully behind the warehouse, waiting to be summoned.
“Right now, it weighs four tons,” said Weir. “So I have to carve it and figure out what’s inside of it.”
Recycled, reclaimed, and new limestone all make their way into Weir’s studio by happy accident or commissioned necessity. He imparts his scientific perspective and pragmatic conservative nature in every piece, focusing on behavior and evolutionary cohesion.
Weir mentions E.O. Wilson, the new synthesis, and evolutionary biology during our interview – all subjects that haven’t stirred my gray matter since 10th grade. It’s clear he operates on a level more insightful than most prolific sculptors, constantly aware of the final product, the waste, and the limited resources available for his art form. He discerns good ideas from great ideas and spends years boiling down his plans for the identity of his next piece.
When asked about one of his most memorable pieces, Weir cites a bike rack on the northwest corner of 4th Street and West Market Street, commissioned by the Louisville Downtown Management District. His design is a spoof on the historical markers that seem to dot every third corner of the city. This marker has two plaques. One side reads “Presence” and depicts a graphic diagram of a 24-hour metaphoric clock of planet earth, with all of earth’s major events recorded as if they happened within a 24-hour period. The other side is titled “Pangaea: A Study of Change,” showing 12 paleogeographic maps of the breakup of the earth’s last supercontinent.
Weir operates with a sense of responsibility in his craft: a responsibility to the product and the environment, as well as a responsibility to bring value to the audience. He balances energy and materials with a conscientious frame of mind, constantly aware of his goal as the artist.
Where did your artistic skills come from?
I think it comes from wanting to conquer materials and manipulate things like stone and metal – the creation and manipulation of things.
What is your favorite or least favorite part of the creative process?
I really get bogged down by the idea. I am working on a project now and I have been thinking of it for over a year and a half. Process is easy; I can get automatic with it…I get overwhelmed as an artist because of the waste….And I am hypercritical. I have a thousand ideas in my head and only one will pan out. 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration – sometimes that’s what it takes.
If you were to give advice to budding artists, what would you say?
If one wants to get into art, the primary thing you must accept and recognize is sacrifice. You must sacrifice normalcy in your life. It’s a feast or famine timescale that you have to adapt to. It’s a very surreal living – therein comes time management. My commission-based work is my 9-to-5 and it pays for me to do my artwork…Everything that I am conceptually passionate about, what I have to say as an artist.
Little known fact about you?
I am a member of the [Cloud Appreciation Society]. Gavin Pretor-Pinney wrote this book – “The Cloudspotters Guide” – about six years ago. It’s as benign as it sounds, but cool to me in an evolutionary perspective. Clouds are identified by a genus and species, just like us. So you have this standardized measurement for clouds in terms of Linnaean taxonomy. It’s a way to package and ingest these elements so that we can essentially control nature.
But it’s clouds.
Exactly! They evolve and change all the time. You start with a cumulus humilis and watch it change to a cumulus congestus and so on…
-Lane Hettich
Bio:
Louisvillian. Sculptor. Student of natural art and human behavior.
Age:
32
Location:
Germantown
Contact:
matthewpatrickweir@gmail.com www.mweir.com
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